$750K N.J. grant program focuses on very early stage clean tech companies

The New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology is launching a grant program that could provide as many as 10, $75,000 grants to qualifying companies.

The CSIT said in a news release that the $750,000 Clean Tech Seed Grant Program will provide grants up to $75,000 to very early stage, New Jersey-based clean technology companies, with a goal of accelerating development and innovation of clean technologies by furthering research & development within the Garden State startup community.

“New Jersey is ripe with young, innovative companies that have the potential to upend the current global clean technology marketplace,” CSIT Chairman Gunjan Doshi said in a prepared statement. “The Clean Tech Seed Grant Program we’re launching soon will help these startups continue their critical R&D as they work toward commercialization.”

The program was developed in coordination with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and New Jersey Economic Development Authority. Funds are being provided through the BPU’s Clean Energy Program.

“Creating opportunities for startups to flourish in the clean technology sector will have a long-lasting impact on the state’s clean energy economy and critical environmental infrastructure,” BPU President Joseph Fiordaliso said in a statement. “By investing in early-stage companies through this program, we are investing in the sustainability of our environment and our state’s clean energy future.”

The Clean Tech grant program aims to fund projects that are developing or testing clean technologies, in areas including:

• Chemicals/advance materials;
• Energy distribution/storage;
• Energy efficiency;
• Energy generation;
• Green buildings;
• Transportation;
• Waste processing;
• Water and agriculture.

“The Clean Tech Seed Grant Program sits at the intersection of two of Gov. (Phil) Murphy’s key priorities — reclaiming New Jersey’s role as a leader in innovation, and reducing the Garden State’s dependence on fossil fuels,” EDA CEO Tim Sullivan said in a statement. “When startups succeed, they create jobs and fuel our economy. In this case, there is the added element of bolstering the state’s crucial clean technology sector.”

Click here for the application, or for more information. Applications can be submitted starting Feb. 8 and continuing through April 5, or until the program receives 50 completed applications, whichever comes first.

Read the full article here.