New Energy New York (NENY) has opened applications for ChargeUp, a new accelerator that will help startups working on battery innovations advance their technology development and business. And early-stage companies with battery innovations anywhere in the supply chain are encouraged to apply by 11:59 p.m. EST on Feb. 23, 2024.
Companies accepted into the accelerator will receive $25,000, connections to investors, and opportunities for follow-on investment, including up to $100,000 for technical development. The participation in the Binghamton-based accelerator is mostly remote, with select weeks in person for instructional workshops and pitches to investor groups.
This initiative is part of a $4.5 million grant awarded to NextCorps and Binghamton University from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF-2334103) to test a replicable model for better supporting the needs of early-stage, deep-tech businesses, improving the commercialization of new innovations, and improving economic development within region-specific technology hubs located across the U.S. The six-month accelerator is based on curriculum and learnings from two of NextCorps’ proven accelerators: Luminate (the world’s largest accelerator for startups developing technologies enabled by optics, photonics and imaging or OPI) and the Manufacturing Accelerator (helps early-stage companies reduce the risk, waste, and cost associated with getting hardware from prototype to mass production). This methodology used by both programs utilizes university, community, and industrial involvement to guide and speed the delivery of emerging technologies.
ChargeUp follows a similar format and will be run by Binghamton University’s Koffman Southern Tier Incubator under the NENY initiative. And during the program, companies will receive over 200 hours of curriculum that will prepare them to become investment-ready by mastering business due diligence, design for manufacturing, complex supply chains, product pricing, and other topics. The accelerator also connects them to resources within the region’s rapidly growing battery industry cluster enabled by NENY, which has been federally designated as a battery innovation Tech Hub by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), and driven by New York State’s efforts to pioneer critical energy storage technologies.
Since 2017, Koffman’s Southern Tier Clean Energy Incubator program has fostered over 60 startup companies, including iM3NY, which opened the state’s first battery Gigafactory. And Binghamton University, through its office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Partnerships, is leading the NENY initiative, with the cornerstone project, Battery-NY, for the development of a first-of-its-kind in the nation battery technology and prototyping center.
The startups applying to ChargeUp must be incorporated, have at least two people working full time on the business, and should have proven their core technology, preferably having developed a working prototype. And ChargeUp will start April 14, 2024 and conclude in late September 2024. Virtual info sessions will be held on January 25 and February 8 to help companies assess if the program is right for their business.
KEY QUOTES:
“The Binghamton region is internationally recognized for its expertise in energy storage. This accelerator will allow us to attract the best startups and talent to the region, and connect them to the benchmark assets and expertise available here to change the trajectory of their business and technology commercialization,” said
– Binghamton University Associate Vice President of Innovation and Economic Development, Per Stromhaug
“Our world is facing energy storage issues that are affecting almost every industry. Testing our proven accelerator methodologies within battery innovation to solve these pressing challenges, and doing so within a rich, industry-leading battery ecosystem makes perfect sense. We’re eager to support the ChargeUp accelerator and to assess the impact it has on improving success rates for bringing novel technologies to market.”
– Dr. Sujatha Ramanujan, Managing Director, Luminate NY
