Key Elements

In furtherance to bring knowledge to bear on the world’s great challenges, Grasshopper Climate Ventures created a fresh approach to climate venture formation. Modelled after the “research investment firm,” Grasshopper Climate Venture Builders combines translation & technology expertise to identify, build, & launch transformative startups leveraging University & DOE research, technology, facilities, experts & resources. Our model is intentionally designed to reduce barriers traditionally present in centralized, university-based entrepreneurship programs by creating a more inclusive, transparent and innovative ecosystem where university & National Lab intellectual capital is fully leveraged, and students, faculty, and external stakeholders can co-create, invest in, and democratize the process of turning research and innovation into practical, real-world applications that can address the global challenges posed by climate change, help mitigate environmental impact, stimulate economic growth, & benefit humanity as a whole. 

• The Grasshopper model is to find a real-world problem that needs solving, connect with researchers to engineer solutions with entrepreneurial potential, and identify business opportunities associated with solving that problem. 
• We work with significant autonomy within research lab ecosystems to formulate and explore new venture concepts based on breakthrough research and technology insights.
• We combine translation, creative vision and technology expertise to identify, build, and launch impactful startups from DOE research and technology. 
• We facilitate broad engagement across multiple stakeholders, including building and managing multiple teams of students, post-docs, and faculty.
• We work closely with External and Internal Advisory Boards to lead discovery and exploration direction, potentially serving as a director of a founding scientific team and providing support for business development and other similar strategic function.
• We explore the intellectual property landscape and define opportunities for developing and capturing novel and broad intellectual property protection.
• We define key scientific experiments and establish new venture plans and budgets for affiliated research labs.
• We engage internal and external scientific and research experts.