The Lemelson Foundation has invested $500,000 in VertueLab’s Climate Fund I, which seeks to deploy $5 million in catalytic investments to early-stage, technology start-up companies poised to reduce greenhouse gases at scale. The Impact Fund expects to support 15-20 companies primarily located in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska or British Columbia. The support for VertueLab represents the Foundation’s first domestic program-related investment (PRI), which is part of a strategy to jumpstart the launch and scale of invention-based enterprises (IBEs) regionally.
VertueLab has been supporting early-stage entrepreneurs creating climate tech and cleantech businesses for 14 years. They are an active partner in Oregon’s regional innovation ecosystem offering a number of specialized programs intended to address the unique challenges faced by many invention-based entrepreneurs including an accelerator, assistance accessing federal grants, early-stage funding, and more.
For these entrepreneurs, the support comes at a critical time in the development of their technology. Because climate tech often involves some sort of hardware, the R&D process can be strenuous, time-consuming, and expensive. These innovators need specific support regarding manufacturing, customer discovery, corporate partners, and the funding sources available. VertueLab and its programs work with innovators at these key early stages to help prove out their technology, win federal grants, and move their innovation from lab to market.
In addition to its Climate Impact Fund, VertueLab’s support programs are in the midst of exciting growth. Thanks to a nearly $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its Energy Program Innovation Clusters (EPIC) initiative, VertueLab is expanding its successful federal grant assistance program to entrepreneurs in Washington State, Idaho, and Alaska, and offering more services to startup companies in the region through its partners.