ARPA-E's Technology Commercialization Team Lifecycle of an ARPA-E Project​

Highlights contributions of the T2M team through the lifecycle of a typical ARPA-E project

Program Formation

The Technology-to-Market (T2M) team supports the formation and pitching of new programs to ensure that the technologies that will be developed are aligned to market needs and can demonstrate a pathway to meeting commercial metrics that matter to the targeted market segments.

Project Selection & Negotiation

T2M Advisors help to align metrics developed in ARPA-E Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) with market needs, providing critical industry perspective and white space analysis to identify potential gaps in proposals and help work through them. T2M Advisors also help with defining rigorous T2M milestones for all ARPA-E projects, including T2M plans, Intellectual Property (IP) strategies, techno-economic analyses (TEAs), market/product research, and transition plans.

Program and Project Execution

T2M Advisors work with each ARPA-E-funded project to construct and execute a commercialization strategy that is unique to their technology. The preparation of the commercialization plan includes conducting comprehensive market analyses, developing and refining business models, formulation of an IP strategy, and preparing the appropriate cost and TEA models that validate value propositions to the customer. Additionally, during the execution of the plan, T2M Advisors facilitate team connections to appropriate strategic partners, investors, etc., through our external engagement model. Teams making sufficient technical progress with gaps in their commercialization plan will be considered for T2M plus ups as part of the execution phase.

Project Transition

Towards the end of the project, the ARPA-E T2M team works to support the momentum built by the project team to move on to the next stages of commercialization. This includes but is not limited to participation at pitch events organized by ARPA-E to prospective investors, providing plus up funds for additional customer discovery, and validation of the customer value proposition.

SCALEUP

In 2019, ARPA-E announced its Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential (SCALEUP) program, which provides further funding to previous ARPA-E awardees that have been determined to be feasible for widespread deployment and commercialization domestically. The previously described support provided by the T2M team during program formulation, project execution and transition are important contributors to SCALEUP selectees demonstrating a viable path to commercial deployment and the ability to attract private sector investments.