Phase II Awardee Events

The DOE SBIR/STTR programs office provides virtual commercialization workshops and partnering activities with the goal of improving the commercialization outcome of DOE SBIR/STTR funded technologies.

Phase II Commercialization Workshops

Introduced in late 2022, these virtual workshops are held quarterly and focus on topics related to commercialization that are typical areas of weakness for SBIR/STTR companies (manufacturing, licensing, financial modeling, preparing to pitch, intellectual property strategies, etc.).

FY22 Commercialization Workshop

December 2022 - Commercialization and the Power of Partnering [more] The inaugural workshop opened with a discussion on why partners are important in your commercialization journey and how they change over time. The agenda included presentations from industry stakeholders (Exelon, 3M, SK Ventures and Henkel) and a VC panel with representatives from Early Charm Ventures, E8 Ventures and Clean Energy Ventures.

FY23 Commercialization Workshops

March 2023 - Preparing to Pitch [more] This workshop included an educational overview of what should be done as you prepare to pitch from VentureWell as well as the small business resources available from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of the Advocate forSmall Business Capital Formation. Panels included Lessons Learned from Phase II awardees that had successfully pitched their DOE funded technologies and Pitching Do’s & Don’ts from industry stakeholders (Dow Ventures, TDK Ventures, Clean Energy Ventures and Eagle Point Funding). Interested in learning more - check out the workshop recording.
May 2023 - Financial Modeling [more] The virtual event opened with Ron Schoff (Director of R&D - Renewable Energy and Fleet Enabling Technologies at EPRI) providing his thoughts on Energy related markets and how to think about market projections/modeling for Energy related technologies. Then, Phase Shift II coaches, Max Green and Dan Kunitz, discussed the basics on how to make market and sales projections. The workshop concluded with Emily Avagliano (Resollant Consulting) introducing cost strategies for achieving accurate and commercially viable product cost targets. View the workshop recording for more information.
September 2023 - Navigating Phase III Contracting [more] The virtual event opened with Mike Dobbs, Deputy Chief Counsel from the Office of Science, providing the Phase III legal framework followed by Manny Oliver discussing the challenges in interpreting/executing Phase IIIs. The floor then opened to Lessons Learned from DOE Phase III awardees and their associated program managers and contracting officers from NETL, OE, ANL, NNSA and the U.S. Navy. Check out the recording and slides for more information! When discussing this acquisition preference with the National Laboratories, this memo from DOE Headquarters may be useful. The Office of SBIR/STTR programs is also working on a guidance document.
December 2023 - Preparing to License [more] The workshop opened with Dr. Jenny Servo (Dawnbreaker) providing an overview of licensing basics and points to consider from the perspective of the small business. Phase II awardee, Dr. Basu Saha (RiKarbon) shared his story/lessons learned from his successful license of technologies developed with DOE SBIR/STTR funding. The workshop concluded with a panel put together by IP specialists from Clarivate on IP strategies to consider building on concepts introduced by Dr. Servo. Check out the recording and slides for more information!

FY24 Commercialization Workshops

March 2024 – Preparing to Manufacture [more] Geared toward understanding manufacturing basics and what to consider when preparing to manufacture product, the workshop opened with Chuck Hodges and Jenney Loper from Zebulon Solutions, Inc. discussing how to move a prototype into production. Then Dr. Joe Cresko from DOE’s Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office (IEDO) introduced IEDO’s Introspective Portfolio Assessment tools and; Dr. Jyoti Malhotra and Don Ufford discussed manufacturing resources available through NIST’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and Manufacturing USA programs, respectively. The workshop closed with a panel of DOE awardees sharing their manufacturing lessons learned. Find the recording and slides here!

Other virtual workshops scheduled to take place in 2024 include:

  • FY24 Q2 workshop: Financial Modeling based on Cash Flow – June 13th
  • FY24 Q3 workshop: Preparing for Product Launch – October 9th
  • FY24 Q4 workshop: Developing a Strategic Cap Table – December 11th

The Q3 and Q4 workshop dates might change given that they have been scheduled so far in advance.

virtual Partner Pitch Program (vP3)

The virtual Partner Pitch Program (vP3) provides Phase II awardees with the opportunity to be promoted to potential strategic partners/investors and to potentially brief them in a non-threatening environment (virtually).

The FY24 pitch sessions will take place on Tuesdays in April/May and in August/September. Prior to the live pitch session, participating Phase II awardees will receive coaching and practice presenting their pitch.

While the DOE Office of SBIR/STTR programs will invite relevant stakeholders to attend the pitch sessions, there is no guarantee of attendance and/or resultant partnership. It will be up to the individual participants to nurture and develop strategic relationships between interested parties. Fortunately, the new SBIR Partnering Platform makes this much easier. Partners, visit the platform to view the FY24 schedule and register for pitches of interest!

Questions – Reach out to Carol Rabke, Tech to Market Advisor - Partnering.

DOE Disclaimer: DOE is not endorsing, sponsoring, or otherwise evaluating the qualifications of the individuals and organizations that attend as potential partners.