Challenges and Prizes
Many organizations run or sponsor challenges and prizes to develop new innovators and their solutions. EFN has 22 years of experience organizing, running and supporting these programs at the national and international levels.
Typically, these activities include challenges, prizes and competitions sponsored or funded by companies and the public sector.
EFN has run or supported over 45 challenges and competitions. These include prizes on Wave Energy, Micro-batteries, Carbon Capture and Transportation, Energy Storage, Grid Technologies, Grid Software, Semi-Conductors, Geothermal Technologies, Water Power Technologies, several challenges to help tech accelerators develop, and more than 20 regional, national, and global startup competitions
Organizations who have funded our challenges and accelerators include Amazon, Bank of Africa, Buckeye Partners, Coupong, Gates Foundation, Intel, Microsoft, the State of California, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the US Department of Energy and the US State Department.
Since 2013, we have partnered with the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship as part of the World’s largest graduate student startup competition to train and connect almost 500 startups created in the top university labs worldwide with more than 80 companies and agencies including many of America’s largest companies. Overall, these startups have raised over $6B. Other university and corporate collaborations we have supported have been prizes and competitions at Columbia University, the Indian School of Business, NYU, Princeton, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, University of Michigan and the University of Washington.
To manage challenges and accelerators, we can develop simple management systems or tap our software partners.
To support engagements, we tap our database of 35,000+ contacts nationwide working in technology and innovation in all sectors and industries. These contacts are at startups and small businesses, large and medium-sized companies, universities, angel, VC and corporate investors, accelerators and incubators, and the public sector (e.g., cities, states, federal government).
To help meet specific client needs, we often tap our network of experts including industry experts, technologists and university professors.