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Accelerating Your Innovation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Starting new energy-related technology companies can be challenging, and that’s one reason the number of energy start-ups has declined significantly over the past decade. Innovation Crossroads, a Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program, is supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE)—including the Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, Building Technologies Office, Office of Electricity, and Office of Science’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research program and Basic Energy Sciences program—and by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The program leverages Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL’s) unique scientific resources and capabilities and connects the nation’s top innovators with experts, mentors, and networks in technology-related fields to take world-changing ideas from R&D to the marketplace.

Innovation Crossroads is a two-year fellowship program that focuses on energy and advanced manufacturing technologies. Through an annual national call and competitive stage-gate process, top entrepreneurial-minded fellows are selected to join the program. Selected innovators receive a fellowship that includes a personal living stipend, a health insurance stipend, a travel allowance, a substantial grant to use on collaborative R&D at ORNL, and comprehensive mentoring assistance to build a sustainable business model.

By embedding the next generation of top technical talent within ORNL, Innovation Crossroads positions entrepreneurial researcher fellows to address fundamental energy and manufacturing challenges identified by industry.

How We Support Our Fellows

Multi-Faceted Support To Rapidly Advance Your Startup

Innovation Crossroads offers unique multifaceted support tailored to the individual needs of each start-up company. This unique structure, combined with ORNL’s diverse capabilities, provides fellows the opportunity to take their groundbreaking research to market at an accelerated pace and with greater impact .

National lab expertise—ORNL is DOE’s largest science and energy laboratory and home to some of the nation’s most significant user facilities. Because Innovation Crossroads entrepreneurs work within ORNL, they have immediate access to essential tools and resources. This access reduces cost, risk, and R&D time, allowing fellows to focus on creating the next generation of game-changing technologies.

Multidisciplinary collaboration—Innovation Crossroads participants work with ORNL’s renowned scientists and engineers across many disciplines, including biological and environmental sciences, advanced materials, neutron sciences, nuclear science and engineering, and high-performance computing, providing a platform for accelerating innovation.

Business mentoring assistance—Innovation Crossroads has a growing network of partners who offer a unique entrepreneurial and business mentoring experience. The program facilitates connections with industry executives, investors, entrepreneurs, and other experts from academia, government, and finance who can serve as advisors and mentors to help develop priorities, mature skills, provide guidance, and make connections to their broader networks.

Program Sponsors

DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office

Mission: We drive and inspire innovation to transform materials, manufacturing, and workforce to advance America’s energy economy.

DOE’s Building Technologies Office

Mission: The Building Technologies Office conducts research, development, and demonstration activities to accelerate the adoption of technologies and techniques that enable high-performing, affordable buildings that meet Americans’ needs for resiliency and health while also supporting a reliable energy system. 

DOE’s Office of Electricity

Mission: The Office of Electricity leads DOE’s R&D to strengthen and modernize our nation’s power grid to maintain a reliable, affordable, secure, and resilient electricity delivery infrastructure.

DOE’s Office of Science

Mission: DOE’s Office of Science has a mission to deliver scientific discoveries and major scientific tools to transform our understanding of nature and advance the energy, economic, and national security of the United States.

Tennessee Valley Authority

Mission: TVA was built for the people with a mission to serve the Tennessee
Valley region through our work in energy, the environment, and economic
development. Today, that means providing energy that 10 million people
and 800,000 businesses rely on every day. It also means investing in
maintaining and improving the TVA power system so the region has a
secure, American-made energy future for years to come. We supply
that affordable, reliable energy; serve as stewards of the region’s natural
resources; and help bring good jobs to local communities. We are here
to serve the people.

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Get Involved

Contact us if you would like to be a potential partner, application reviewer, or sponsor. We also welcome program referrals for qualified applicants.