This week ARPA-E is celebrating its seventh anniversary! Back in 2009, ARPA-E was a handful of innovative technology leaders and staffers with ambitious ideas about creating an agile government agency that could transform the U.S. energy landscape. Today, ARPA-E is changing the game in energy innovation with a diverse portfolio of more than 475 early-stage energy technology projects -- many of which are showing signs of technical and commercial success.

Modeled after the Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), ARPA-E’s mission is to catalyze and accelerate the creation of transformational energy technologies by making high impact investments in their early stages of development. ARPA-E’s Program Directors are experts in their respective fields and have a passion for innovation. Each Program Director is encouraged to challenge the status quo and find new ways of looking at America’s energy issues, bringing together collaborators across varied technical and professional disciplines to solve complex problems. 

ARPA-E also focuses on moving innovative technologies out of the lab and into the market. Dedicated ARPA-E Technology-to-Market Advisors provide awardees with practical training and critical business information to equip project teams with a clear understanding of market needs to guide early stage technical development and help projects succeed.

To date, ARPA-E has invested approximately $1.3 billion across more than 475 projects through 30 focused programs and three open funding solicitations.

…and there’s more to come! With new challenges and opportunities on the horizon, ARPA-E is pursuing new programs and projects in its 7th year that seek a diversity of innovations in a broad range of technologies – from battery technologies to window efficiencies and automated & connected vehicles. Sign up for the ARPA-E Newsletter to keep up-to-date on new ARPA-E programs, funding opportunities, and news about existing projects.