March 2, 2016 | By Barbara Vergetis Lundin

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has selected the second cohort of innovators for its Cyclotron Road program, whose projects include next generation batteries, advanced materials, biomanufacturing, and solar technologies.

Cyclotron Road recruits entrepreneurial researchers and embeds them at Berkeley Lab for up to two years in a mentored technology entrepreneurship program. During that time, the program guides its cohort members as they work to achieve focused technology development objectives in a discrete period of time to facilitate the transition from lab to market.

"When we started Cyclotron Road less than two years ago, it was an experiment. Now with the second cohort and significant external funding, the concept has been firmly established," said Berkeley Lab Deputy Director Horst Simon. "As the quality and range of applications in the second cohort show, Cyclotron Road has closed a gap in our spectrum of tools for energy technology innovation."

Nine new members make up the new cohort, coming from as far away as New York and Oxford, England, and all are first time entrepreneurs.

"The United States needs a whole new generation of technology entrepreneurs to lead the way in building the global clean energy economy. But as venture capital investment in clean tech has dropped significantly in recent years, I fear that this generation's brilliant minds may seek opportunity in other industries even at this critical moment for the clean energy sector," said David Danielson, Department of Energy assistant secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). "Cyclotron Road is a critical new DOE supported platform upon which game changing new clean energy startups can be built. Its first cohort participants are already showing tremendous success, with two projects in the program already having been awarded funding for their ideas by ARPA-E. With the program's second cohort we are announcing today, EERE and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab are already building on an exciting track record of success."

After just one year of funding from EERE, the first cohort of innovators made a lot of technical progress -- attracting nearly $5 million in follow-on funding through competitive grants and private investments, and avoiding millions more in R&D capital expenditures. Over that time, they have worked closely with more than 20 Berkeley Lab scientists.

The second cohort was selected after a nationwide call for applications followed by a rigorous four-month selection process. They are expected to begin work embedded at Berkeley Lab in May of this year.

For more:
- visit this website for a list of cohorts

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