Illinois Science and Energy Innovation Fund

The Midwest is the perfect environment for the development of advanced energy solutions that merge industrial and electrical engineering with software and the Internet of Things. While the level of seed and angel investment and the number of investment groups have been growing overall, an opportunity to translate this momentum to early stage energy ventures remains to be captured. Many angels and venture funds may not be familiar enough with the sector-specific expertise that is essential for driving success in multi-billion-dollar energy markets; therefore, investors often shy away from energy investments unless subject matter experts are involved.

Energy Foundry’s goal is to accelerate economic growth by expanding the pool of available investment capital for an underserved market—energy startups and technologists in the Midwest. To accomplish this goal, Energy Foundry is focused on catalyzing additional investment capital from two sources: institutions, and the regional seed/ angel investor community. Energy Foundry will use its grant to advance seed-stage investors in the Midwest as they start making energy-focused investments, and to engage with institutions that expand Energy Foundry’s seed fund efforts.

Energy Foundry’s goal is to catalyze additional seed capital into the energy startup ecosystem throughout the Midwest. Enabling untapped resources to engage with a new commercialization platform will unlock capital, accelerate time-to-market for energy start-ups, and enrich the energy ecosystem as a whole.