The Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation

What The Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation does

The Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation (FESI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, founded in 2022 under the CHIPS and Science Act and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It operates as the official congressionally chartered nonprofit partner of the U.S. Department of Energy, positioning itself as a bridge between DOE, the 17 National Laboratories, industry researchers, philanthropic funders, and early-stage energy startups. Its mission is to accelerate the speed, scale, and stability of American energy innovation and commercialization.

FESI does not build proprietary technology. Instead, it runs a platform of five interconnected programs: (1) the EPIC Pitch Competition, co-hosted with DOE's Office of Technology Commercialization, which awarded $80,000–$120,000 in annual cash prizes across the 2025 and 2026 cycles to startups in geothermal, critical minerals, grid sensing, motors, and waste-to-methanol; (2) the Federal and Small Business Innovation Commercialization Initiative, which routes federal agency and DOE deal flow to investors and ecosystem partners; (3) Corporate and Investor Partnership Programs that steward institutional relationships; (4) an investment commitment into DOE's Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity (RMUC) Program; and (5) the FESI Advancement Program, which structures fundraising from ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices, corporate and private foundations, and social impact investors.

FESI's revenue model is philanthropic: it is funded through a $2.5M initial congressional appropriation (FY2024), a $5M grant from Builders Vision with up to $5M in matching, and additional private fundraising that totaled over $5.5M in the first full year with $6M in further commitments and invited proposals. Its go-to-market is community-led and event-driven — pitch competitions at TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Energy Thought Summit, national listening tours, and incubator partnerships with Greentown Labs, LabStart, and Centrepolis Accelerator. Customer/beneficiary segments include DOE and federal agencies, energy technology startups (e.g., Infinion Technology, Anactisis, Eden GeoPower), regional energy incubators, and philanthropic funders. Leadership includes inaugural CEO Rick Stockburger (formerly of BRITE Energy Innovators) and Board Chairman Mung Chiang (President of Purdue University), with a 1–10 person operational team.

Name

The Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation

Legal name

The Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation

Website

https://fesi.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

FESI is a congressionally chartered 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2022 under the CHIPS and Science Act to serve as the bridge between the U.S. Department of Energy, national laboratories, energy startups, and philanthropic funders, accelerating commercialization of American energy innovation through programs like the EPIC Pitch Competition.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Energy Innovation Nonprofit Services

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Demonstration Pilots, Testbeds & Standards Development (Prototype Validation, Certification, Field Trials) (EUAMAOAL)

Keywords

• Energy innovation funding
• Nonprofit energy programs
• Energy technology commercialization
• Energy startup acceleration
• Public-private energy partnerships

Headquarters

HQ city

Arlington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants: FESI receives grants from foundations and organizations to support energy innovation programs and operations. The organization has secured a $5 million grant from Builders Vision, along with a commitment for matching funds up to $5 million.
2. Philanthropic Fundraising: FESI generates revenue through fundraising from ultra-high-net-worth individuals, family offices, corporate and private foundations, philanthropic collaboratives, and social impact investors. The organization raised over $5.5 million last year with an additional $6 million in commitments and invited proposals.
3. Program Sponsorship: FESI co-hosts and sponsors programs like the EPIC Pitch Competition in partnership with DOE's Office of Technology Commercialization, providing catalytic funding to winning startups and supporting regional incubator ecosystems.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

FESI serves as a congressionally chartered nonprofit bridge organization that connects the U.S. Department of Energy, its 21 National Laboratories, industry researchers, and private funders to accelerate American energy innovation. Its core activities include operating the EPIC Pitch Competition (providing catalytic funding to energy startups), managing commercialization initiatives, and administering the FESI Advancement Program for philanthropic fundraising.

Product overview

FESI is a nonprofit organization structured as a platform of programs rather than a traditional product company. The organization operates five interconnected program areas: (1) EPIC Pitch Competition, a partnership with DOE's Office of Technology Commercialization that awards funding to energy technology startups; (2) Federal and Small Business Innovation Commercialization Initiative that connects DOE and federal agencies with investors and ecosystem partners; (3) Corporate and Investor Partnership Programs that maintain relationships with corporate partners; (4) RMUC Program Investment supporting grid cybersecurity for rural utilities; and (5) FESI Advancement Program for fundraising from foundations and impact investors. All programs serve FESI's mission to bridge DOE, national laboratories, industry, researchers, and funders to accelerate American energy innovation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• EPIC Pitch Competition
• Federal and Small Business Innovation Commercialization Initiative
• Corporate and Investor Partnership Programs
• Rural and Municipal Utility Advanced Cybersecurity (RMUC) Program Investment
• FESI Advancement Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Accelerated commercialization pipeline: FESI helped generate over $250 million in economic impact through regional ecosystem support
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Greentown LabscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 April 2026Greentown Labs, the nominating incubator for the first-place winner (Eden GeoPower Inc.) of the 2026 EPIC Pitch Competition, received a $25,000 cash prize from EPIC. Greentown Labs is one of the nation's most innovative technology business incubators supporting energy entrepreneurs.
• LabStartcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 April 2026LabStart was the nominating incubator for the second-place winner (Lukera Energy Corporation) of the 2026 EPIC Pitch Competition and received a $10,000 cash prize from FESI. LabStart supports energy entrepreneurship through DOE-affiliated incubator programs.
• Centrepolis AcceleratorcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 April 2026Centrepolis Accelerator was the nominating incubator for the third-place winner (Modal Motors, Inc.) of the 2026 EPIC Pitch Competition and received a $5,000 cash prize from FESI. Centrepolis Accelerator supports energy technology startups and innovation.
• LabStart (2025)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 May 2025LabStart was the nominating incubator for Infinion Technology, the first-place winner of the Spring 2025 EPIC Pitch Competition, and received a $25,000 incubator award.
• U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022FESI is the official congressionally chartered nonprofit partner of the U.S. Department of Energy, established under the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. The partnership focuses on accelerating American energy innovation by serving as a bridge between DOE, national laboratories, industry, researchers, and funders. FESI collaborates with DOE's Office of Technology Commercialization on programs like the EPIC Pitch Competition.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Engine Ventures: A nonprofit, non-partisan science-and-technology research organization supporting transformative research agendas. Comparable as a science-and-innovation-focused nonprofit foundation operating in the federal R&D ecosystem.
• Bezos Earth Fund: A major philanthropic foundation (>$10B committed) funding climate and energy innovation. Comparable as a large-scale climate/energy grantmaking foundation with strategic ambitions overlapping FESI's mission to scale American energy innovation.
• Federation of American Scientists: A nonprofit science policy organization translating federal R&D into public-interest outcomes. Comparable as a nonprofit operating in the federal science/innovation policy arena with a similar convening and bridge function.
• ClimateWorks Foundation: A major global climate-philanthropy foundation that regrillions to energy and climate initiatives. Comparable as a sizable climate-focused grantmaking foundation with strategic interests overlapping FESI's energy-innovation space.
• ARPA-E (Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy): A DOE agency that funds transformative energy R&D and has historically partnered with FESI on commercialization pathways. Comparable as the principal federal energy-innovation funding body that FESI's foundation complements rather than competes with.

Direct peers

• Activate (formerly Cyclotron Road): A nonprofit deep-tech fellowship based at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab that supports entrepreneurial scientists commercializing hard-tech including energy technologies. Highly comparable to FESI as a nonprofit fellowship/incubator model bridging national-lab innovation with private markets.
• Innovation Crossroads (Oak Ridge National Lab): A DOE national-lab-based cohort program supporting energy entrepreneurs translating lab-invented technologies into startup companies. Operates a similar bridging role between national-lab R&D and the startup market, supported by DOE.
• Chain Reaction Innovations (Argonne National Lab): A DOE-supported fellowship at Argonne National Lab mentoring entrepreneurs on clean-energy technologies from the lab to market. Directly analogous to FESI's lab-to-commercialization mission with DOE backing.
• Greentown Labs: One of the largest cleantech incubators in the U.S. and an existing EPIC nominating partner of FESI. Directly comparable as a clean-energy startup incubator operating in the same ecosystem and serving as a regional hub for energy entrepreneurs.

Emerging players

• Clean Energy Ventures: An early-stage venture capital firm investing in early-stage climate-tech startups with a focus on science-based innovations. Adjacent comparable as an active financier in the same clean-energy commercialization pipeline FESI supports through EPIC.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FESIorg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/foundation-for-energy-security-and-innovation
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 The Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation