We’re now Accepting Applications for Cohort 2023
One fellowship, infinite possibilities.
The Activate Fellowship is an immersive, two-year experience that provides emerging science entrepreneurs the funding, knowledge, network, laboratory access, and camaraderie they need at the early stages of their ventures. For Cohort 2023, the fellowship is offering even more, including access to an additional $100,000 flexible capital and an expanded startup curriculum, and we are seeking technologies across a broad spectrum of industries and applications, with an emphasis on advanced manufacturing and carbon management.
To date, Activate has supported over 140 entrepreneurial fellows and catalyzed more than 100 science-based startups that have collectively raised more than $1 billion and created over 1,100 jobs. Most importantly, Activate Fellows have emerged as global leaders accelerating the invention and deployment of climate-tech solutions in areas ranging from energy storage to carbon capture, advanced geothermal, and beyond.
Cohort 2023 brings us closer to achieving our goal to support 100 new fellows each year, across the U.S., within the next five years. We are looking for scientists and engineers with a desire to bring their research to market who could benefit from the opportunities, funding, and community we provide.
Many of our fellows say their companies would not exist without our support. Explore the infinite possibilities available through the Activate Fellowship and apply to join us in 2023. Applications close October 31.
New in 2023: Access to an additional $100,000 flexible capital
In addition to providing a yearly living stipend of $80,000-$110,000 and research funding of $100,000, we recognize the need our fellows have for flexible capital at this early stage in their entrepreneurial journey. As a result, Activate Fellows will now have the opportunity to access pre-seed capital once they have met milestones that demonstrate their company’s ability to achieve commercial impact. Approved fellows will be eligible to receive at least $100,000 in flexible capital under entrepreneur-friendly terms from dilutive or philanthropic sources at any time throughout their two-year fellowship. We’re excited to be able to provide this additional capital to help fellows unlock future funding opportunities and amplify the impact of their technologies.
Greater focus in 2023: A robust startup curriculum for founders
The Activate Fellowship is designed to be a transformational learning experience. With the addition of adult-learning expert Sarah Morrill, to the Activate team as program continuum director, we have taken our startup curriculum for fellows to the next level. Now with four strong communities in Berkeley, Boston, New York, and Activate Anywhere, we’ve curated national and local programming to meet the fellows’ greatest training needs as emerging entrepreneurs.
National programming focuses on developing new knowledge and skills and includes VIP speakers, sessions on core business and product development concepts, skill development workshops, and shared learning from other fellows and alumni. Local programming is focused on networking and building community, including making connections among the fellows and external advisors to create an ecosystem of resources and contacts.
Each fellow is at a different point in their growth and development. We’ve created a seamless educational experience that accounts for this, introducing different educational tracks from which fellows can choose. Effective support and accelerated learning require leveraging fellows’ limited time in the most efficient way possible.
Increasing impact in 2023: Imperatives dedicated to carbon management and advanced manufacturing
We look for technologies that can be applied across our eight industries of focus, aligned with our broader mission to address climate change and other global challenges by reinventing our economy to be sustainable, resilient, and equitable. Within the broad range of technologies we support, each year we also identify a set of imperatives, for which we have dedicated funding, that are specific, timely, and critical opportunities for outsized impact within our full cohort. For Cohort 2023, these imperatives are carbon management and advanced manufacturing.
To address the Carbon Management Imperative, fellows must be developing technology designed to reinvent our energy and industrial sectors to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, including removing legacy emissions. Fellows who address the Carbon Management Imperative are developing technologies that accomplish one or more of the following objectives: carbon dioxide removal; point-source carbon capture; carbon-dioxide conversion; carbon storage; and measurement, reporting and verification.
To address the Advanced Manufacturing Imperative, we are seeking fellows dedicated to accelerating the transition to clean energy by improving the energy and material efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing. Examples of advanced manufacturing include advancing product circularity by designing for demanufacturing; developing renewed and renewable materials; enabling cradle-to-cradle lifecycle management of manufactured goods; or improving the resiliency and lowering the energy needs of key U.S. infrastructures, from food, water, or transportation systems to buildings and utilities.
Applications for the 2023 Fellowship are open now through October 31. If you know someone who would benefit from the Activate Fellowship, let us know through this nomination form. If you are a scientist or engineer on the path to impact and want to apply for Cohort 2023, learn more here. We’re hosting events over the coming weeks—including a workshop on how to submit a strong application—where you’ll learn more about the fellowship experience and the benefits of joining our community.