Clark Street Associates

What Clark Street Associates does

Clark Street Associates is a privately-held advisory firm founded around 2015 and headquartered in Los Altos, California, with a second office in Washington DC and a 2025 expansion into Canada. The firm specializes in helping technology companies secure large-scale, non-dilutive government funding, including federal and state grants, contracts, federal equity investments, and site selection incentives. It serves clients ranging from mid-stage startups to Fortune 500 enterprises across five primary verticals: semiconductors and advanced electronics, critical minerals, nuclear/fusion and alternative energy, defense and aerospace, and robotics and AI.

The firm's core service portfolio comprises six interconnected offerings: Federal and State Funding Advisory, Federal Equity Investments (delivered through a partnership with Finalis Securities LLC), Manufacturing Grants and Site Selection, Government Demonstrations and Pilot Programs, Strategic Partnerships, and Program Management. Clark Street's stated approach involves handling 80-90% of project work effort for clients, combining technical, commercial, and government process expertise through multidisciplinary teams. The firm was directly involved in the creation and administration of the CHIPS Act and has secured over $5.4 billion in non-dilutive funding for clients cumulatively.

Clark Street generates revenue through professional services fees on advisory engagements, with pricing not publicly disclosed and structured on a bespoke, project-by-project basis. Distribution is direct enterprise field sales with no apparent channel partners beyond the Finalis Securities relationship for securities-related transactions. The firm employs 11-50 people and is led by CEO Stephen Empedocles alongside a team of Managing Directors and a Partner/SVP. It is founder/management-owned, with no disclosed institutional investors, parent company, or M&A activity. Reported customer wins in 2025 included a 100% DOE award advancement rate across six projects ($606M+), the largest commercial quantum computing grant, and a $1.6B federal financing package for USA Rare Earth.

Name

Clark Street Associates

Legal name

Clark Street Associates LLC

Website

https://clarkstreetassociates.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lancaster

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Advisory and Consulting Services: Clark Street Associates provides advisory services to help clients secure government grants, contracts, federal equity investments, and site selection incentives. The firm generates revenue through professional service fees for these advisory engagements, helping technology companies navigate government funding processes and secure large non-dilutive funding.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Clark Street Associates is an advisory firm that helps technology companies secure large non-dilutive government funding, including federal and state grants, contracts, federal equity investments, and manufacturing site selection incentive packages. The firm provides end-to-end solutions that combine business development and technology experience with government strategy, marketing, and services, handling 80-90% of the total work effort required to complete funding engagements.

Product overview

Clark Street Associates is a government advisory firm that offers a portfolio of interconnected services designed to help technology companies secure non-dilutive government funding. The core offerings include Federal & State Funding Advisory (for grants and contracts), Federal Equity Investments (via partnership with Finalis Securities), Manufacturing Grants & Site Selection, Government Demonstrations & Pilot Programs, Strategic Partnerships, and Program Management. The firm operates across multiple high-tech industries including semiconductors, critical minerals, nuclear/fusion energy, defense & aerospace, and robotics & AI. The services are offered as advisory engagements rather than a software platform or product suite.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Federal & State Funding Advisory Advisory service helping technology companies secure large government grants and contracts from federal and state agencies, tailored to clients' commercial technology development and business plans.
• Federal Equity Investments Strategic advisory service enabling companies to pursue government equity deals, combining government expertise with financial structuring through a partnership with Finalis Securities LLC for broker-dealer, compliance, and transaction infrastructure.
• Manufacturing Grants & Site Selection Service helping domestic and overseas clients secure ideal U.S. manufacturing sites with customized federal and state incentive packages that maximize short- and long-term financial and operational value.
• Government Demonstrations & Pilot Programs Creates customized government-funded programs for high-profile demonstrations and pilot projects that raise company profile in both commercial and government markets.
• Strategic Partnerships Business development service sourcing strategic partnerships with other companies to increase reach, provide funding, add capabilities, and drive commercial business growth.
• Program Management Post-funding management service handling all aspects of programs after securing non-dilutive grants, contracts, or demonstrations for clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• Secured over $5.4 billion in non-dilutive funding for clients
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• FinaliscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 January 2026Clark Street Associates partnered with Finalis, a broker-dealer and deal infrastructure platform, to help companies pursue government equity deals. The partnership provides an end-to-end solution bridging government funding expertise with financial transaction capabilities, combining Clark Street's government strategy expertise with Finalis' broker-dealer, compliance, and transaction infrastructure. This creates a unique Federal Equity Advisory Platform.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Forbes Tate Partners: Forbes Tate Partners is a bipartisan government affairs and strategic communications firm that helps clients access federal funding and shape policy, competing for the same technology-company mandates that CSA pursues across CHIPS, IIJA, and IRA programs.
• Mehlman Consulting: Mehlman Consulting is a federal government relations firm with strong technology and industrial policy practices, providing a comparable suite of strategic advisory and lobbying services for clients seeking federal incentives.
• Monument Advocacy: Monument Advocacy is a bipartisan government affairs firm focused on technology, innovation, and industrial policy clients, with overlapping mandates in CHIPS, IRA, and emerging-tech federal funding where CSA also competes.
• BGR Group: BGR Group is a Washington-based government affairs and public affairs firm with a dedicated practice helping companies secure federal grants, contracts, and incentives — directly comparable to Clark Street's federal/state funding advisory work for technology companies.
• Subject Matter: Subject Matter is a government consulting and public affairs firm that advises clients on federal funding opportunities and regulatory engagement, structurally similar to CSA's model of combining technical understanding with federal procurement and grant navigation.
• Cornerstone Government Affairs: Cornerstone Government Affairs is a Washington lobbying and government relations firm with federal funding and appropriations expertise, comparable to CSA in helping companies navigate federal grantmaking and appropriations processes.
• Van Scoyoc Associates: Van Scoyoc Associates is a government relations firm specializing in federal funding, appropriations, and defense/technology advocacy, with overlapping client types and similar pursuit of CHIPS, defense, and energy-program wins.

Broad incumbents

• Covington & Burling: Covington & Burling is a large Washington-rooted law firm with significant federal funding, technology, and national security advisory practices, competing for the same premium federal incentive mandates as CSA.
• Hogan Lovells: Hogan Lovells is a global law firm with a recognized government incentives and grants practice (including semiconductor and clean-tech mandates), positioned as a broader incumbent alternative to CSA's specialized federal funding advisory.
• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Akin Gump is a broad international law firm with a deep federal government contracts and grants practice; it competes for the same CHIPS, IRA, and IIJA engagements as CSA and can offer legal-plus-advisory bundles.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights8 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/clarkstassoc
• Facebookfacebook.com/clarkstreetassociates
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clark-street-associates

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Clark Street Associates