To do this, the scientists, engineers, business experts, and teams behind groundbreaking climate innovations need investment and support to ensure their early-stage clean technologies have the resources to get adopted quickly.

Innovators with game-changing early-stage climate solutions need access to a unique set of resources to turn those innovations into commercially viable solutions. As part of our end-to-end approach to accelerating innovation, BE has established the Breakthrough Energy Fellows (BE Fellows) program to support the world’s best and brightest innovators as they develop new technologies that significantly reduce carbon emissions and help the world get to zero by 2050.

This full-time program is designed to ensure early-stage entrepreneurs working on groundbreaking scientific solutions have the R&D funding, educational resources, and network they need to realize the full potential of their technology. In some cases, this may mean nurturing ideas until they are ready for venture capital investment, or enabling technology acquisition, non-traditional financing, government partnerships, or other pathways.

Fellows Program at a Glance

Hailing from around the world, BE Fellows are focused on key technologies that will be critical to moving the world to net-zero emissions by 2050 including hydrogen, electrofuels, cement, steel, food and agriculture, long duration energy storage, carbon dioxide capture, storage, sequestration, offshore wind, solar, advanced materials, and efficient building technologies. Over time, the program’s geographic reach and technological focus will expand to fill a global portfolio with hundreds of Fellows.

There are two types of Breakthrough Energy Fellows:

• Innovator Fellows are world-leading scientists and engineers who enter the program with a critical climate technology to commercialize.
• Business Fellows are experienced professionals who have complementary skills and support the Innovator Fellows in accelerating their technology to the market.

The Fellows program provides patient capital along with expert advice, funding, and mentorship to support innovators on their path to commercialization, including a stipend for living expenses, funding for technology and product development, access to scientific and business expertise, investors, policy experts, and our world-class network of partners.

Building the Pipeline

In addition to Breakthrough Energy Fellowships, Breakthrough Energy Explorer Grants cultivate the early-stage pipeline for innovative climate technologies. Explorer Grants support research projects that are generally being conducted by a university lab or research entity but require further technical exploration before they would be ready to join the full-time Fellowship. These 12-month, one time grant awards may become eligible for a full-time Fellowship if the technology advances during the grant period.

Would you like to get involved in the Breakthrough Energy Fellows program?