The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) awarded more than $100,000 total in cash prizes at the Spring 2025 EPIC Pitch Competition, where startups presented their groundbreaking energy technologies.
Office of Technology Commercialization
May 21, 2025
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Washington, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC, formerly OTT) awarded more than $100,000 total in cash prizes at the Spring 2025 EPIC Pitch Competition, where startups presented their groundbreaking energy technologies. The Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC) provides opportunities for the nation’s most innovative technology business incubators to continue their support of energy entrepreneurs. The pitch competition was held on May 20 at the 12th annual Energy Thought Summit (ETS) in San Antonio, and the winning startups were announced at the conference by DOE leadership the following day.
“The EPIC Pitch Competition is a platform for startups to showcase their cutting-edge technologies that could help unleash affordable, reliable energy for our nation,” said DOE Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of OTC, Anthony Pugliese. “EPIC pitch competition winners clearly understand the positive impact their tech could have on the industry, and they are well positioned to partner with the private sector to advance their ideas.”
The startups that participated in the Spring 2025 EPIC Pitch Competition were nominated by incubators that had successfully participated in the EPIC program. Out of the many impressive startups nominated, six were selected by DOE as finalists. The finalists had five minutes each to pitch their technologies to a panel of reviewers at ETS 2025.
At the pitch competition event, finalists impressed the audience and reviewers with presentations detailing their technology, market opportunity and strategy, business model, and team. Reviewers scored and deliberated each team based on presentation skills, content, and investment potential before selecting the winners, who were announced to a live audience at the conference the following day.
Meet the Winners
Congratulations to the Spring 2025 EPIC Pitch Competition winners!
First Place, $50,000: Infinion Technology (Palo Alto, CA) – AI-powered, high-frequency magnetic sensing for low-cost, real-time grid asset monitoring, enabling a more resilient, reliable grid.
Nominating Incubator Award, $25,000: LabStart (Denver, CO)
- Second Place, $20,000: Anactisis (Pittsburgh, PA) – Enhancing U.S. energy security by developing polymer-based materials to recover critical minerals from industrial waste streams.
- Third Place, $10,000: Dig Energy (Manchester, NH) – Affordable, compact, fast, and thermally efficient drilling tech enabling geothermal heating and cooling to scale.
Other Featured Startups
Congratulations to the following startups for also being selected to compete in the finalist stage of the competition:
Natrion Inc. (Binghamton, NY) – Revolutionary U.S.-made separators for lithium batteries making cells safer, fast-charging, and more cost efficient.
Petra Power (Solon, OH) – Ultra efficient, fuel-flexible power systems converting diesel, natural gas, propane, and more to electricity with 90% greater efficiency.
Sage Geosystems (Houston, TX) – Commercializing new geothermal technologies to improve the costs and efficiencies of power, heating, and energy storage.
The ETS 25 event also included informed workshops, discussion panels, and networking opportunities that allowed EPIC pitch competitors to make critical connections in the energy industry. The pitch competition was preceded by impactful remarks from DOE Chief Commercialization Officer and OTC Director Anthony Pugliese and followed with a celebratory meet and greet with EPIC winners and DOE, OTC, and American-Made program representatives.
Concluding an EPIC Event
The EPIC program thanks all pitch competition participants, nominators, reviewers, staff, and partners for your involvement and support. It is inspiring to witness bold innovations that will unlock our country’s energy potential. Congratulations once again to all the competitors and winning teams!
Learn More
The American-Made program fast-tracks energy innovation through prizes, training, teaming, and mentoring, connecting the nation's entrepreneurs and innovators to America's national labs and the private sector. The American-Made Network also provides mentoring, tools, resources, and support to competitors to accelerate the transition of ideas into real-world energy solutions.
OTC’s Energy Program for Innovation Clusters (EPIC) provides funds and support to place-based incubators to encourage the robust growth of regional energy innovation ecosystems across the United States. NREL is the Prize Administrator for this prize. Email epicprize@nrel.gov with any questions.
The Department of Energy (DOE) is one of the largest champions of technology transfer and commercialization in the federal government. Congress established the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) in 2015 to advance this critical mission. By unlocking the tremendous potential within the Department and its 21 National Labs, plants and sites, and catalyzing private sector investment in novel technologies, OTC is driving innovation - and with it, American energy dominance and national security. Visit us at energy.gov/otc to learn more, and subscribe to receive our latest opportunities and accomplishments via email. Follow us on X and LinkedIn.
Media contact: dominique.barthel@hq.doe.gov