Executive Summary (1 Page Maximum)

Proposal Title: / Enter Proposal Title here
Principal Investigator (PI) or startup executive name:
PI Research Institution or Company Name:
Address and Contact Information:
If Research Institution, include Technology Transfer Office Contact Name, Phone Number and Email Address:
Submitted to: / MassCEC Catalyst Program Awards
Mass Clean Energy Center, and Mass Technology Transfer Center
One Beacon Street, 31st Floor, Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-287-4088 Email:
Proposed Starting Date:
Proposed Project Duration:
Proposed Total Budget:
One paragraph description of technology:
Water Challenge / Please indicate if this application should be considered under the Catalyst Water Challenge.

Executive Summary (1 page maximum)

Include the following information:

· Overview – Short statement about the stage of development of the technology and its origins, the names and roles of the founders, researchers, inventors and their current roles, and a brief description of any intellectual property.

· Product/Technology – Brief description of the technology/product, the application and problem it solves, and the product’s competitive advantage.

· Commercialization Potential and Business Model – Short explanation of the commercialization potential, its target market and how the product is to be sold or distributed to its end user/customer

· Specific Goals/Outcomes – Briefly describe the development goals of the invention being proposed and why you believe Catalyst or Catalyst Water Challenge funding will enable your team to continue commercializing this technology.

· Project Budget Summary – Provide 1-2 sentences on the amount being requested and what the proceeds will be used for.

Technical Merit Overview (2 pages maximum)

This section should include the following information:

· A description of how the opportunity was identified.

· The current state of the invention, including any relevant results from lab and/or customer testing.

· An overview of what problem the technology solves.

· A description of how the specific product/technology addresses the problem vs. current solutions/ competitive products.

· A succinct description of the technology’s value proposition and competitive advantage.

Note: Candidates are encouraged to provide illustrative diagrams or figures that will help further explain the technology.

Clean Energy Impact (1 page maximum)

This section should include a description of the potential clean energy impact of this technology. Where applicable, please include quantitative descriptions of this impact. This could include, but is not limited to:

· Potential megawatt-hours of clean energy generated

· Tons of carbon dioxide emissions avoided

· Energy savings compared to existing or alternative technology(ies)

· Efficiency improvement over existing technology(ies)

· Other clean energy impacts.

OR, IF APPLYING TO THE CATALYST WATER CHALLENGE:

Water Impact (1 page maximum)

The Catalyst water prize seeks to fund water technologies at the water-energy nexus – where the technology generates improvements in water quality or availability while also reducing energy consumption related to water treatment, conveyance, and usage. This section should include a description of the potential impact of this technology, with an emphasis on energy savings potential. Where applicable, please include quantitative descriptions of this impact. This will vary based on the type of water technology being proposed. The description could include, but is not limited to:

· Energy efficiency improvements

· Potential amount of water conserved or recycled

· Improvement in water testing methodologies

· Improvement in water quality

· Other water-related, clean energy, environmental or climate impacts

Include a description of how the technology directly or indirectly saves energy, and the magnitude of those energy savings (i.e., “This technology uses (or would use) XX% less energy than the current state-of-the-art.”)

Commercialization Potential & Ideas (2 pages maximum):

This section should include the following information:

· Potential commercial uses of the technology in:

o Years 1-2: What is the first market application? What is the size of the market and its growth trajectory? Assess the market attractiveness (barriers to entry, competitiveness of the market, rate of adoption of new technologies, etc.)

o Years 2 – 5: Describe future market application(s). What are the sizes of the market(s) and their growth trajectories? Assess the markets’ attractiveness (barriers to entry, competitiveness of the market, rate of adoption of new technologies, etc.)

· SWOT (Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats) analysis displayed as a chart.

· The proposed business model of the company (i.e., will the product be licensed or sold directly to the end consumer?)

o If the business model of the company will change over time (i.e. from a licensing to manufacturing model), provide a description of this progression.

Note: Candidates who have applied more than three times in the past and are re-applying because of a substantial change in the market which advances their case for an award should briefly describe how the market has changed since their most recent application.

Project Plan (2 pages maximum):

This information should include the following information:

· A detailed description of what milestones are to be achieved during the up to 12-month Catalyst award period, and what milestones will be achieved with Catalyst or Catalyst Water Challenge funding.

Use the following table as a guide:

Date of Milestone #1 / Responsible Person / Title of Milestone #1

Describe how meeting this milestone will move your technology towards your commercialization goals. Reference any key literature, including existing work, or background information from the web, listing URLs.

Date of Milestone #2 / Responsible Person / Title of Milestone #2

Please copy format for the number of milestones you have in your proposed project.

In addition, please include:

· A description of how the Catalyst or Catalyst Water Challenge award directly supports the applicant commercializing the technology and securing a follow-on round of funding. Corroboration in the form of non-binding letters of support from potential future investors, partners, or customers indicating how the completion of a Catalyst or Catalyst Water Challenge project would serve as an impetus for investment, joint venture, or other collaboration, is strongly encouraged.

· A long-term “product development roadmap” that reaches beyond completion of the award work, assuming the above milestones can be completed using Catalyst or Catalyst Water Challenge funding.

· A projection of what funding will be required to bring the product to commercialization once the Catalyst or Catalyst Water Challenge funded work has been completed and what the source of that funding is expected to be. While the funding should be stated as an order of magnitude, if a major go/no go milestone will occur following the Catalyst or Catalyst Water Challenge Award, that information should be included as well.

Project Budget Summary:

Note: If your research institution requires overhead, it needs to be included in this budget. Verify cost of overhead with the institution, as many institutions have waived overhead for this award in the past. For personnel costs please remember to include all benefit and fringe expenses. The total cost should equal $65,000 or less.

Category / Cost
Project Staff:
PI/Project Lead (include breakdown for personnel salaries and benefits)
Other Project Staff (include breakdown for personnel salaries and benefits)
Student, Grad Student and Postdocs (include breakdown for student fees if applicable)
External Advisors and Consultants
Subcontracts and Services
Supplies (provide breakdown; and if more than $3K, provide justification below)
Equipment (if more than $3K, provide justification below)
Travel (if more than $3K, provide justification below)
Other
TOTAL / $ 0.00

After filling out the above table, right click the “Total Cost” box and select “update field” to refresh the value.

Travel, supplies and/or equipment justification (if requested in budget summary):

Information on Team Members (1 page max):

Provide a brief description of the engineering development, manufacturing and business development team members and their relationship to each other. Also provide any achievements (i.e. awards, publications, etc.) that are relevant to developing the product/ technology.

Role / Name / Institute or Company / Email Address / estimated # of hours per month spent on this project / Product/
Technology
Commercialization
experience
PI/Project Lead
Co-applicant
Other Project Staff
Student, grad student and Post-docs
External Advisors and Consultants
Other

You may provide 1-page resumes for each team member in the Appendix, if the space above is insufficient.

Intellectual Property:

Please give us details of the actions taken by your host institution technology transfer office or your company to protect the technology. For example, has a provisional application for patent been filed? In what global geographies was the filing made? What core aspects of the technology are protectable? What additional IP development will be required to secure the company position?

Statement of Compliance:

We, the Applicants of this proposal, agree to comply with all reporting requirements, including the submission of progress reports on funded research activities, reports on related patent and licensing activities, and reports on commercialization activities. We understand that this will include presentation of research results delivered by individuals involved in these projects at meetings organized by the MassCEC and MTTC.

If from a research institution: we, the Applicants, understand that the technology presented in this proposal has been disclosed to the Technology Transfer Office of the host institution. By submitting this proposal, it is understood that this has already taken place.

If from an early stage company: we, the Applicants, understand that the company presented in this proposal has not received more than $1,000,000 in combined financing, grant funding, and revenues. Our company is located in Massachusetts and has four or fewer full-time equivalent employees.

We, the Applicants, also agree to comply with all policies and procedures on the assignment and licensing of intellectual property of our host institution or company.

Applicant(s):

Date:

Note: E-mail, with proposal file attached, from Applicant will serve as certification in lieu of a signature – type in name and date.