U-Launch Program: Helping Clean Tech Start-Ups Get to Market

At this morning’s Sustainability Forum, our pal and founding member Eric Graham announced U-Launch – a brand new grant opportunity that will fund commercialization assistance for early-stage start-ups and university-originated clean energy technologies. By offering grants and venture creation services up to $100K, the group will focus U-Launch specifically on enabling university clean energy technologies to progress to the commercial stage.

Eric, who is director of Fraunhofer’s Techbridge Program, was quoted as saying“The New England region is a leading center of innovation and perfectly positioned to facilitate revolutionary new technologies in the clean energy space.”

The U-Launch program will be jointly administered by Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE), the New England Clean Energy Council (the Council), the Association of Cleantech Incubators of New England (ACTION), and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC).
Applications will be accepted through the end of 2010.The first round of U-Launch grants will be awarded in early 2011. Information for interested parties, including university researchers, technology licensing officers and potential applicants, can be found on-line on the TechBridge U-Launch page.
More to come on the lovely and talented Betsy Blaisdell who, as environmental steward for Timberland, gave us new insights into the shoemaker’s “earthkeeper” efforts.