Voucher Opportunity 4 (Recipients) - Commercialization Support (EERE)

Are you a company (for-profit entity) who received support from DOE through a prize competition or a research and development (R&D) financial assistance agreement/contract in the last 5 years? This opportunity is designed to provide additional support in the form of a voucher for help with market assessment, business plan formulation, fundraising road-mapping (from both public and private sources), and commercialization strategy. See below for additional info about eligibility and timeline.

As part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Technology Commercialization Fund, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), and Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), in collaboration with ENERGYWERX, is offering its Commercialization Support Voucher Opportunity (VO-4) to eligible companies to increase adoption readiness (with a focus on value proposition and market acceptance) of clean energy technologies.

Note: In order to access the voucher provider list (the discussed .xlsx and .pdf files), you will need to successfully complete the eligibility form, which is part of your submission. Once the initial eligibility questions are successfully answered, you are permitted to access the actual application; and the .xlsx and .pdf files are located at the base of the application form. The eligibility/submission form can be found HERE.

The DOE Voucher Program builds bridges between U.S. entrepreneurs, businesses, technology developers or other relevant partners and third-party voucher providers to advance commercialization of innovative energy technologies. Voucher Opportunity (VO-4) includes market research, business plans, fundraising road-mapping (from both public and private sources), and other commercialization strategy assistance for companies who have received funding from DOE’s RD&D programs.

DOE has selected and pre-approved a cohort of voucher providers offering a variety of capabilities you might be interested into. For this voucher opportunity, capabilities include:

• Market Assessment
• Business Plan
• Fundraising
• General Commercialization Planning
• Planning
• Intellectual Property

When you apply, you will review the available capabilities and submit your preferences in the submittable form. If you find something that can be valuable to your company and that can enable your company accelerate demonstration, commercialization, and deployment of your product, please consider applying to receive that in kind support.

Voucher Projects: Expected max voucher worth $50,000 of work. Vouchers will be distributed as in-kind support, meaning that ENERGYWERX will directly reimburse the voucher provider for the work they have completed on behalf of the voucher recipients. Only work related to specific technology areas will be eligible to receive a voucher under this opportunity. List of eligible technology areas:

-   With EERE funding:

• Clean Hydrogen
• Industrial Decarbonization
• Advanced materials and Manufacturing Technologies
• Building efficiency
• Geothermal
• Solar
• Water
• Wind
• Bioenergy
• Vehicle technologies

DOE anticipates issuing approximately 35 vouchers at this time.

Voucher Recipients: Limited to for-profit companies who have won a prize or were prime recipients of a DOE financial assistance award (i.e. a grant or cooperative agreement) or prime contractors in other R&D contract active at any point after January 1^st, 2019, to develop a proof of concept or product prototype that fits a specific technology area of interest for DOE EERE. While the for-profit entity can have received previous R&D support from any DOE office (including but not limited to Office of Science, EERE, FECM, Nuclear Energy, ARPA-E, the SBIR/STTR office) only companies working on one of the eligible technology areas will be considered.

This opportunity is limited to one submission per requesting organization. In the case of multiple submissions, all submissions but the one with the latest time stamp will be disqualified.

Voucher Recipients: How to Participate in VO-4

1. Review the resources from the October 26, 2023 IW/OSS
2. Review resources from the November 9, 2023 Office Hours
3. Download the Voucher Recipient Needs Request: Click Here to Download
4. Complete the Submission Form and upload completed Voucher Recipient Needs Request: Click Here to Submit (Submissions are due No Later Than November 16, 2023, 5:00 PM ET)

In order to access the voucher provider list (the discussed .xlsx and .pdf files), you will need to successfully complete the eligibility form, which is part of your submission. Once the initial eligibility questions are successfully answered, you are permitted to access the actual application; and the .xlsx and .pdf files are located at the base of the application form. The eligibility/submission form can be found HERE.

Pending availability of funds, additional submission windows may open in the future for this voucher opportunity.

This is not the only voucher opportunity currently available through ENERGYWERX. See below for additional information related to other voucher opportunities:

• VO-1: Pre-Demonstration Commercialization Support (OCED/EERE)
  
• VO-2: Performance Validation, Modeling, and Certification Support (OCED/EERE)
  
• VO-3: Clean Energy Demonstration Project Siting/Permitting Support
  
• VO-5: Commercialization Support (Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, FECM)

DOE is still finalizing selections; ENERGYWERX expects to make notifications in the coming weeks.

Informational Webinar/Objective Strategic Session (IW/OSS) [October 26, 2023 from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET]: DOE will provide further details about Voucher Opportunities. Potential voucher recipients can better understand the scope, scale, and intent of the Voucher Program and ask questions of the DOE staff.

Office Hours [November 9, 2023 from 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET]: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will host Office Hours to answer any remaining questions from potential applicants before the submission deadline.

Voucher Recipient: November 16, 2023 at 5:00 PM ET

Voucher Recipient Timeline

Phase 1 – Voucher Recipients Request Submission Open [October 18, 2023 - November 16, 2023]: Interested potential voucher recipients should submit one (1) Voucher Recipient Needs Request.

• Informational Webinar/Objective Strategic Session (IW/OSS) [October 26, 2023 from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET]: DOE will provide further details about Voucher Opportunities. Potential voucher recipients can better understand the scope, scale, and intent of the Voucher Program and ask questions of the DOE staff.
• Office Hours [November 9, 2023 from 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ET]: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will host Office Hours to answer any remaining questions from potential applicants before the submission deadline.

‍Phase 2 – DOE Selection [December 2023]: DOE will review submissions based on relevance to the program objectives and will notify selected entities for next steps.
NOTE:  DOE may choose to meet with submitters or ask additional clarifying questions prior to selection.

Phase 3 – Voucher approval and start of work [January 2024]: Subsequently, voucher project will commence.

Complete the Submission Form and upload completed Voucher Recipient Needs Request: Click Here to Submit (Submissions are due No Later Than November 16, 2023, 5:00 PM ET)

Click HERE to review frequently asked questions.

Q: What are the eligibility requirements for voucher providers and recipients?

A: Please review the eligibility requirements for each Voucher Opportunity. In general, participation is open to any type of organization, unless specified in the Voucher Opportunity description.

Q: My company had an active DOE award after Jan 1, 2019 but was acquired by another company. Am I still eligible to apply to VO-1 or VO-4?

A: Only for-profit entities who received a DOE award/contract as prime recipient/contractor are eligible to apply to VO-1. Those entities as well as for-profit DOE prize winners are eligible for VO-4. Interested applicants can submit evidence of an acquisition, change of name, or change of the organization structure to prove the nexus between the applicant to the voucher and the entity who received DOE funding. DOE at its sole discretion will assess whether the nexus and the evidence provided meets the eligibility requirements for this voucher opportunity.

Q: My company had an active DOE award after Jan 1, 2019 to develop a new product and subsequently spun out a new company to commercialize that product. Am I still eligible to apply to VO-1 or VO-4?

A: Only for-profit entities who received a DOE award/contract as prime recipient/contractor are eligible to apply to VO-1. Those entities as well as for-profit DOE prize winners are eligible for VO-4. Interested applicants can submit evidence of an acquisition, change of name, or change of the organization structure to prove the nexus between the applicant to the voucher and the entity who received DOE funding. DOE at its sole discretion will assess whether the nexus and the evidence provided meets the eligibility requirements for this voucher opportunity.

‍

Questions about ENERGYWERX

Q: What is ENERGYWERX?

A: ENERGYWERX is a neutral facilitator as a result of a Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) with the Department of Energy. ENERGYWERX will be coordinating the collection of applications, disbursement of funds, and voucher management for the Voucher Program.

Q: How does it work for performers?

A: Performers receive a formal Business-to-Business (B2B) Research and Development Agreement (RDA) and Statement of Effort (SOE) as a sub-award (15 U.S. Code, Section 3715) from ENERGYWERX.

Q: What is an ENERGYWERX Informational Webinar (Objective Strategic Session)?

A: Interested participants join a virtual, open forum session to engage with DOE Partners, Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), and other potential applicants regarding the DOE’s desired focus area(s) of interest.

Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact ENERGYWERX:  info@energywerx.org