MassCEC Announces $450,000 for Early-Stage Clean Energy Innovators

Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) CEO Alicia Barton today announced $450,000 in funding for the first two awardees under the AmplifyMass program, which provides matching funding to awardees of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E).

“These grants have helped to leverage nearly $7 million in federal support for the innovative technologies being developed and pioneered here in the Commonwealth,” said Barton. “By supporting these promising technologies we can ensure that Massachusetts continues to lead the nation in fostering home-grown clean energy innovations."

Receiving AmplifyMass funding are:

• INFINIUM (Natick) - $300,000 - INFINIUM is developing an energy-efficient method to produce aluminum and other metals that eliminates carbon dioxide emissions, a major contributor to climate change. The energy savings translate into significant cost savings as well, which can motivate industry adoption of this technology. The company recently received $3,980,000 in ARPA-E funding.
• Xilectric (Fall River) - $150,000 – Xilectric is developing a low-cost, rechargeable battery that can be manufactured with widely available materials. This battery will be used in both electric vehicle and grid-scale applications.  The company recently received $2,971,744 in ARPA-E funding.

“Innovative clean tech companies like Infinium are driving economic growth in MetroWest and across the Commonwealth,” said Sen. Karen Spilka, chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, who also chairs the Legislature’s Technology Caucus. “This round of grants is another example of how the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center continues to support the Massachusetts clean energy workforce and creative energy technologies that can have a significant impact on our economy and our environment.”

“INFINIUM is proud to be one of the first awardee under MassCEC’s new AmplifyMass program. This funding will be critical in supporting our ARPA-E award under the METALS program, giving us essential working capital that we need to successfully execute on the project and progress towards expanding our workforce in Massachusetts,” said INFINIUM CEO Steve Derezinski.

“Xilectric is excited to be selected as an awardee of the new MassCEC AmplifyMass program. ARPA-E funds only the best new energy technologies. The AmplifyMass program helps early stage companies like Xilectric win and execute on projects supported by the Department of Energy’s prestigious ARPA-E Agency. This program will make Massachusetts based applications more competitive by helping new companies meet the funding obligations of the ARPA-E program,” said Xilectric CEO Steve Weiss.

The AmplifyMass program, launched in October 2014, was created to support Massachusetts-based companies and university teams that are innovating in the clean technology sector, and aims to increase competitiveness of Massachusetts teams applying for ARPA-E funding. The program provides up to 10 percent of a company’s total project budget, with a cap of $300,000, and up to 5 percent for university awardees, with a cap of $100,000.

In the last five years, MassCEC has provided over $2.75 million in matching funds to Massachusetts-based ARPA-E winners, who have in turn boosted the clean energy workforce by hiring over 280 employees to join their teams, and raised over $290 million in additional funding.

In October, MassCEC and ARPA-E signed a partnership agreement to increase support for the research, development, demonstration and deployment of clean energy technologies in the Commonwealth.

In January, ARPA-E opened its latest Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), OPEN 2015, which is offering $125 million to companies developing “potentially disruptive new technologies across the full spectrum of energy applications.” The submission deadline for Notices of Intent is 5 p.m. on Feb. 20.

AmplifyMass applications are accepted on a rolling basis.