NREL is the United States' primary laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. The Industry Growth Forum is a program of NREL's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC). The IEC fosters an ongoing and extensive connection with the early-stage business community to stimulate an innovative and entrepreneurial cleantech environment, facilitate robust access to capital for investors, and accelerate the commercialization of clean energy technologies.
The Mission:
The Forum’s mission is to foster a collaborative community of thought leaders, build relationships between NREL experts, cleantech startups, investors, accelerators, incubators, and other cleantech industry leaders to showcase and explore innovative technologies and disruptive business solutions. The Forum spurs technology to market through increased funding opportunities, mentorship, networking opportunities and investor to entrepreneur interaction.
The Vision:
The vision is to shape the energy system of the future by facilitating connections and collaboration within the advanced energy, sustainability, and cleantech communities.
For over thirty years, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Industry Growth Forum has been the nation's premier clean energy investment event. The Forum features presentations from 30 emerging clean energy companies, provocative panels, one-on-one meetings, and organized networking opportunities.
NREL's Industry Growth Forum is the perfect venue for growing companies to prepare, refine, and present their businesses to a wide range of investors. Entrepreneurial companies ranging from university and laboratory spinouts to commercially ready clean technologies from across the globe apply to present at the Forum.
The Forum attracts leading cleantech investors, corporate partners, and global energy companies looking for strategic investments and partnering opportunities. Executives attend to:
- Meet with cutting-edge clean energy growth companies
- Network with their peers and make new connections
- Get a "big picture" overview of the emerging industry and the issues affecting technological innovation, capitalization, and commercialization.