- Oak Ridge National Laboratory is partnering with startup accelerator The Company Lab to bring ORNL’s technologies to commercialization
- The memorandum of understanding will also supply entrepreneurs with resources to help build their companies in quantum, transportation and other sectors
- The agreement is expected to help entrepreneurs who become fellows of the Innovation Crossroads program
Oak Ridge National Laboratory has entered into a memorandum of understanding with The Company Lab, a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based startup accelerator, to broaden the pathways through which the lab’s research reaches commercial markets, ORNL announced Friday.
The agreement, signed July 8, is intended to strengthen East Tennessee’s deep-tech startup ecosystem and give entrepreneurs greater access to ORNL-developed technology through licensing arrangements and other industry partnerships. ORNL already works with more startups than any other national laboratory in the Department of Energy system, supporting them through direct licensing and its Innovation Crossroads program.
What Are the Potential Benefits of the ORNL and Company Lab MOU?
Under the new agreement, ORNL and The Company Lab, known as Co.Lab, will work together to expedite the commercialization of ORNL technologies in quantum, energy and transportation, including expanding the resources available to those sectors’ enterprise-builders.
The lab’s quantum research supports industry efforts across advanced manufacturing, logistics, telecommunications, energy systems and national security, building on ORNL’s long-standing strengths in those research areas. That work complements infrastructure that Co.Lab has already built for entrepreneurs, including its Quantum Tech Accelerator and Chattanooga’s newly announced Institute for Quantum Innovation, a joint effort between Vanderbilt University and Electric Power Board of Chattanooga.
The partnership also aligns with Tennessee’s larger investment in quantum technology development, including state support for the Tennessee Quantum Initiative and the National Science Foundation X-Labs quantum teams.
How Will the MOU Affect Innovation Crossroads?
Innovation Crossroads, an entrepreneurship program administered by the DOE’s Office of Technology Commercialization, places hard-tech founders at ORNL for a two-year fellowship to allow them to work alongside laboratory researchers to develop their technologies. The new arrangement with Co.Lab, is designed to extend the support available to fellows once they graduate from the program and move further into the regional startup ecosystem.
What Is The Company Lab?
The Company Lab pairs early-stage founders with established industry partners to help scale new technology. The organization focuses on startups working in sustainable mobility, freight and logistics, energy systems, and smart infrastructure, organizing its programs around four core areas it describes as people, goods, energy and data. The accelerator targets post-revenue companies that already have a minimum viable product and market traction, and while relocating to Chattanooga isn’t required, Co.Lab encourages founders to spend time there given the city’s testbeds for connected and autonomous vehicles, its gig-speed internet infrastructure, and its emerging quantum computing network. Co.Lab also maintains a dedicated quantum-focused accelerator track and continues supporting founders after they complete the program, offering ongoing introductions to capital, customers and pilot partners.
