FedTech Summit

On December 9, four NNSA teams will present their innovations at FedTech’s Frontier Venture Summit, the culminating event of the FedTech Startup Studio program. FedTech is a venture firm that helps transition technologies from labs to the market for real-world impact, making them an ideal partner for NNSA’s tech transfer efforts. By merging the lean startup model with the resources of federal labs, FedTech enables agencies like DOE/NNSA to bring their technologies out of the lab and into the world. The Fedtech Startup Studio initiative pairs aspiring entrepreneurs with technological experts, building teams to pursue novel ideas and inventions.

After pitching their concepts and plans in October, the NNSA teams have worked diligently to prepare for December’s showcase event. This event will be open to the public; register here and join us to watch their presentations!

The teams presenting during the event represent technologies with potential applications across a variety of industries ranging from advanced materials to biotechnology.

“It’s an exciting time to be in the deep tech ecosystem,” said Robyn Brazzil, Director at FedTech. “FedTech is built on the foundation of creating significant impact by bringing ideas from labs to the market, and catalyzing collaborations between innovative labs and a diverse pool of entrepreneurs from across the U.S.”

The technology transfer program spanning NNSA’s labs, plants and sites is a major source of American innovation, resulting in thousands of new inventions that become part of a consumer’s everyday life, or part of a federal agency’s mission work. In fact, the Nuclear Security Enterprise has amassed the largest numbers of patents across the federal government and has created billions of dollars in resulting economic impact. 

“The tech transfer work that our sites have accomplished has proven to be transformative,” said Dr. Njema Frazier, acting Assistant Deputy Administrator for NNSA’s Strategic Partnership Programs office. “We are excited to continue our sponsorship of the FedTech Startup Studio program, one of the best opportunities to promote these innovations to the public and potential industry partners. This initiative has helped many aspiring entrepreneurs develop a path to success by teaming with partners, investors and instructors to market and commercialize technologies. We are grateful for the chance to share these ideas from our National Security Laboratories and sites that will change the future.”

Past examples of successful NNSA tech transfer projects include Wavefront technology now used in LASIK procedures, and Stingray, a tool that disables improvised explosive devices (IEDs) with just a blade of water. 

The technologies presented by the NNSA teams span a wide range of fields:

  • Nevada National Security Site, Electromagnetic Spectrum Management System
  • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Bio ID Point of Care Pathogen Detection System
  • Sandia National Laboratories, Retsynth (biological production of chemicals)
  • Sandia National Laboratories, Twistact (wind turbines)

Have a budding technology in mind, or know someone who does at one of the NNSA labs? You haven’t missed your chance. In 2022, the first exclusive NNSA cohort will participate in the next round of FedTech’s startup studio. Contact ian.ryu@fedtech.io to submit a proposal before January 1, 2022, and read more about the program here