Five new innovators will join Chain Reaction Innovations (CRI), the Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, as part of the award-winning program’s eighth cohort. Starting this July, these innovators will participate in the two-year program, collaborating with host scientists at Argonne while working full-time. Their goal is to launch startups focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and boosting U.S. competitiveness in emerging technologies. The resulting innovations will support the country’s equitable clean energy economy and contribute to achieving the U.S. target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
CRI has a significant impact, now celebrating its eighth year of embedding entrepreneurs at Argonne. By May 2024, CRI startups have collectively raised over $643 million and created 679 jobs.
“Collaborations like those between early-stage startups and CRI help unlock the immense potential of our laboratory’s scientific expertise,” noted Argonne Director Paul Kearns. “Through teamwork, we’ll be able to leverage our collective knowledge and capabilities to move science innovations to the marketplace and create economic prosperity.”
The five new innovators in CRI’s Cohort 8 are:
- Angela Feldhaus: Self-levitating, near-space platforms for atmospheric sensing and telecommunications
- Haining Gao: Hybrid solid-liquid cathode to boost lithium primary battery energy
- Berk Kovos: SynthBits: Illuminating designer qubits for all
- Jhana Porter: Conversion of biobased overage streams into high-value polymer bioproducts
- Scott Svadlenak: Validation of the economic viability of a novel process to upcycle PVC
“We believe science is the bedrock on which innovations will deliver a sustainable, prosperous, and equitable world,” said CRI Director Dick Co. “And what better way to realize that promise than by embedding innovators at Argonne, the nation’s first national lab.”
The innovators were selected through a national solicitation process and a two-part pitch competition, with reviews from industry experts, investors, scientists, and engineers.
CRI is supported by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office, Building Technologies Office; DOE’s Office of Science, Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences; DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management; and by Argonne.
