The Department of Energy (DOE) today announced an award of $1 million for the University of Central Florida (UCF) to help accelerate cutting-edge energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies from university laboratories into the market.
UCF will hold the “MegaWatt Ventures” event, incorporating a technical showcase with a business plan competition and business and prototyping services. Ten teams will be selected by a committee of energy industry experts, angel and venture capital investors, and entrepreneurial executives experienced with early-stage companies. Over two years, teams will tap into the intellectual property portfolios and research expertise held by Florida universities. Each year ten teams will be awarded $10,000 each, and will be given six months to complete a prototype and assemble a start-up team to compete for $100,000. In its third year, MegaWatt Ventures will be expanded to include all universities in the southeastern United States.
UCF’s award is one of five projects selected aimed at supporting the development of university-based technology commercialization. These projects build on the work of the DOE’s broader commercialization efforts, which focus on connecting research and development activities with the venture capital funding and expertise that will help increase the rate and scale of clean energy technology market penetration across the country.
Awards announced today totaled $5.3 million.
The other university projects selected were:
- Clean Energy Trust (Chicago, Ill.) – $1,050,000
- Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (Cambridge, Mass.) – $1,050,000
- University of California, San Diego (San Diego, Calif.) – $1,050,000
- University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah) – $1,050,000
