What Cradle to Commerce does

Cradle to Commerce (C2C) is a public-private accelerator program launched in 2022 that connects inventors and entrepreneurs with curated energy technologies from four U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (lead host), Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The program provides selected teams with access to 111 scientifically-vetted intellectual properties and 56 state-of-the-art test bed and prototyping facilities across four energy domains — Buildings, Nuclear, Energy Generation & Fuels, and Grid Modernization and Energy Storage. Teams progress through soft-skills training, hard-tech development, scientist-in-residence mentoring, and pitch coaching, culminating in a showcase at the annual C2C Summit with a stated commercialization pathway of 3-5 years.

The program operates a cohort-based model with competitive application-based selection. Cohort 1 launched in 2023 with 8 teams and Cohort 2 launched in 2024 with 7 teams, representing portfolio companies working on technologies such as thermal-LiDAR building sensors, metal foam heat exchangers, flow-assisted long-duration batteries, EV microgrid charging, electrified industrial heat up to 1600°C, used nuclear fuel recycling, water reuse, hydrogen storage, carbon capture, and ML-optimized solar materials. Selected teams receive seed funding, technical tools training, and access to legal, marketing, engineering, and manufacturing expertise.

Cradle to Commerce is funded by the DOE's Technology Commercialization Fund, administered by the Office of Technology Transitions, and is not a revenue-generating entity. The program is augmented by three private incubator partnerships: Decisive Point (deep-tech venture capital with federal market expertise), The Engine (which provides the Entrepreneurial Blueprint training program and access to the Warrior Team of business mentors), and OneValley (global entrepreneurship platform). Operations are run by a small core team of approximately six Berkeley Lab staff under Program Director Reshma Singh, with the program's stated mission of accelerating energy innovation from research cradle to commercial impact.

Name

Cradle to Commerce

Legal name

Cradle to Commerce

Website

https://c2c.lbl.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cradle to Commerce is a DOE-funded public-private accelerator that selects cohort teams to commercialize curated intellectual property from four U.S. national energy laboratories, providing seed funding, test bed access, scientist mentorship, and business training across buildings, nuclear, energy generation, and grid domains.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Energy Technology Accelerator

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Captive CVC Fund (Dedicated corporate fund structure) (FSANAHAB)

Keywords

• Energy technology accelerator
• National lab partnerships
• Technology commercialization
• Clean energy incubation
• Hard tech mentoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. DOE Technology Commercialization Fund: Cradle to Commerce is a public-private program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Technology Commercialization Fund, administered by the DOE Office of Technology Transitions. The program provides seed funding and resources to selected cohort teams at no cost to participants.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Cradle to Commerce (C2C) is a cohort-based accelerator program that connects inventors and entrepreneurs with curated energy technologies from four U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories. Selected teams receive seed funding, access to 111 scientifically-vetted intellectual property assets, 56 state-of-the-art test bed and prototyping facilities, scientist-in-residence mentoring, business mentorship, and commercialization networks across four energy domains: Buildings, Nuclear, Energy Generation & Fuels, and Grid Modernization and Energy Storage.

Product overview

Cradle to Commerce is a public-private accelerator program that connects inventors, entrepreneurs, academics, and small businesses with cutting-edge energy technologies from four national laboratories (Argonne National Lab, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Idaho National Lab, Oak Ridge National Lab). The program provides access to 111 intellectually vetted technologies, 56 state-of-the-art test bed and prototyping facilities, entrepreneurship training, business mentorship, and commercialization networks. The program operates across four domains: Buildings, Nuclear, Energy Generation & Fuels, and Grid Modernization and Energy Storage. It is not a product company but rather a technology commercialization infrastructure and accelerator program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• C2C Accelerator Program A cohort-based, government-funded accelerator program that selects energy technology teams through a competitive application process and provides them with seed funding, national lab intellectual property, test bed and prototyping facilities, scientist-in-residence mentoring, 1:1 business mentorship, pitch coaching, and commercialization networks across four energy domains.

Quantifiable outcome

• 111 scientifically-vetted intellectual property from national labs
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead national laboratory hosting C2C headquarters. Provides access to energy research facilities, scientific expertise, and technology commercialization resources across energy generation, buildings, and grid modernization domains.
• Argonne National LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDomain chair for Grid Modernization and Energy Storage. Provides EV interoperability control systems and grid modernization technologies for commercialization through C2C program.
• Idaho National LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDomain chair for Nuclear Energy. Provides nuclear fuel recycling, hydrogen production, and microreactor technologies. Home to National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) test facilities.
• Oak Ridge National LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDomain chair for Buildings. Provides building energy technologies, thermal-LiDAR sensors, and advanced HVAC systems. Home to Building Technologies Research and Integration Center (BTRIC).
• The EnginecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInvestment firm focused on early-stage tough tech companies. Provides Entrepreneurial Blueprint training program, mentorship from the Warrior Team, and access to The Engine facility at 750 Main in Cambridge, MA.
• OneValleymajorGTM or Marketing PartnerGlobal entrepreneurship platform democratizing Silicon Valley resources for entrepreneurs worldwide. Supports C2C innovators with global network access and entrepreneurial acceleration services.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Techstars: Techstars is a global accelerator operating multiple industry verticals with seed funding and mentorship. Much broader scope than C2C but operates on similar cohort-based accelerator mechanics.
• MassChallenge: MassChallenge is a global accelerator network with energy and cleantech verticals. It operates at significantly larger scale across geographies and industries, providing a broader incumbent comparison point.
• ARPA-E OPEN+ and SCALEUP Programs: ARPA-E is the DOE's advanced energy research funding arm with programs supporting energy commercialization. It sits upstream of C2C and represents a federal comparator in the energy technology commercialization pipeline.

Direct peers

• Greentown Labs: Greentown Labs is the largest cleantech startup incubator in the US, offering prototyping space, mentorship, and corporate partnerships to energy hardware startups. Comparable to C2C's cleantech accelerator model but operating as an independent nonprofit rather than a federally-funded program.
• Innovation Crossroads: Innovation Crossroads is the Oak Ridge National Laboratory counterpart to C2C, also a C2C partner lab, providing seed funding and mentorship to entrepreneurs commercializing energy technologies. It directly competes for federal lab-embedded entrepreneurship funding.
• Chain Reaction Innovations: Chain Reaction Innovations is a DOE-funded entrepreneurship program embedded at Argonne National Laboratory, one of C2C's partner labs. It selects cohort teams to commercialize lab-developed technologies with similar mentorship and prototyping access.
• Decisive Point: Decisive Point is a deep-tech VC firm investing in security, health, energy, and infrastructure. As a C2C partner, it both feeds capital into cohort companies and serves as a comparable model for federal-market-focused deep-tech investing.
• The Engine: The Engine is a tough-tech investment firm and incubator providing the Entrepreneurial Blueprint program and Warrior Team mentorship used by C2C cohort teams. It is both a C2C partner and a comparable deep-tech commercialization platform.
• Activate: Activate (formerly Cyclotron Road) is a Berkeley Lab-embedded fellowship for science entrepreneurs that provides seed funding, mentorship, and lab access. It shares the same LBNL affiliation, fellowship-style structure, and mission of helping scientists commercialize deep-tech research.
• Idaho National Laboratory - Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program: INL's NRIC and related programs offer lab-embedded entrepreneurship support focused on nuclear and hydrogen technologies, also a C2C partner lab. Comparable in structure and federal funding model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cradle2commerce
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cradle-to-commerce
• Instagraminstagram.com/cradletocommerce

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 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 Cradle to Commerce