UFL Partnership Programs
Accelerate market-ready solutions with us.
Keep your finger on the pulse of innovations in energy and sustainability, and discover exciting new companies and potential partners working to solve challenges relevant to your industry.
Current programs
ACRE Incubator
ACRE (Accelerator for a Clean and Resilient Economy) is our flagship program and the longest-running climatetech incubator in New York City. On average, companies dedicate 2-3 years to this transformative experience. ACRE supports companies with fundraising, commercial pilots, customer introductions, hiring, marketing, design, and office space.
Find out more about the ACRE Incubator.
Carbon to Value Initiative
The Carbon to Value (C2V) Initiative drives the creation of a thriving innovation ecosystem for the commercialization of carbontech—technologies that capture and convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into valuable end products or services. The Carbon to Value Initiative is a collaboration by the Urban Future Lab, Greentown Labs, and Fraunhofer USA.
Find out more about the Carbon to Value Initiative.
Offshore Wind Innovation Hub
The Offshore Wind Innovation Hub (OWIH) works with innovators to scale and bring novel technological solutions to the rapidly growing US offshore wind industry. It is an initiative, led by Equinor in partnership with bp, in collaboration with Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and National Offshore Wind R&D Consortium - supported by New York City Economic Development Corporation.
Find out more about the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub.
Innovate UK Global Incubator Programme
The Urban Future Lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, in collaboration with Greentown Labs, is the U.S. landing pad for Innovate UK’s Global Incubator Programme (GIP), a market entry accelerator for UK climatetech startups.
Find out more about the Innovate UK Global Incubator Programme.
Clean Start
The NYU Clean Start Program, offered in collaboration between the Center for Global Affairs and the Urban Future Lab, is designed to help you develop the skills and knowledge you need to succeed in the growing field of clean energy.
Find out more about Clean Start.
How our programs help companies.
Since 2009, UFL has been shaping a cleaner and greener future. UFL is New York State’s longest running cleantech incubator and is trusted by startups in New York State and beyond.
Through our programs, we support innovators on their journey to scaling up and commercializing climate solutions. We are proud to champion the brightest minds in climate tech innovation, providing them with the climate expertise, necessary support and resources to scale up their transformative solutions while leveraging New York City’s built environment and access to climate finance.
Past programs
H2 Refuel Accelerator
The H2 Refuel program, a partnership between Fraunhofer USA, Greentown Labs, and the Urban Future Lab, was designed to enhance infrastructural adoption of hydrogen technologies through cost reduction, reliability and increase overall new capabilities. This challenge was set up in partnership with Shell and Toyota, global leaders in hydrogen production, distribution and mobility.
NYPA Innovation Challenge
Through the NYPA Innovation Challenge, the NYU Tandon’s Urban Future Lab and the New York Power Authority (NYPA) worked to source and select startups to pilot innovative technologies with a focus on electric vehicle (EV) charging and energy storage.
CTA Cleantech Program
To support the Canadian Technology Accelerator (CTA), the Urban Future Lab provided advisement and arrangements for meetings with a curated roster of relevant investors and industry stakeholders for each of the startups participating in the CTA.
Low-Carbon Hydrogen Accelerator
Greentown Labs and the NYU Tandon Urban Future Lab partnered with EPRI, Shell, and the City of Houston to advance innovations related to hydrogen generation and distribution. It was designed to identify, recruit, and collaborate closely with leading startups focused on technologies that advance the development of hydrogen production, storage, and distribution.
PowerBridge
A NYSERDA funded proof-of-concept center that identifies promising early stage clean energy technology from institutional research labs and invests in translational work to advance them towards technical and customer validation and scalability in partnership with Brookhaven National Lab, Columbia, Cornell Tech, CUNY, New York University, and Stony Brook University.
Future Programs
Partnership Opportunities
UFL works with corporate sponsors to develop tailored programming in support of their climate commitments and technology goals. All programs leverage UFL’s expertise in vetting and derisking startups, and supporting corporates in defining and achieving climate and technology goals that require startup innovation.
Partnership Tiers
01 Industry Innovation Challenge
Pilot: Identify one or two winning startups to address technical integration, business model and pricing, and/or customer adoption issues.
Time commitment: 4 months of planning, 4 months of implementation.
02 Single-Year Accelerator
Pilot, JDAs, Direct Investment: Select a cohort of 8-10 startups to help scale by providing technical support and advisement.
Time commitment: 6 months of planning, 6 months of implementation.
03 Multi-Year Accelerator
Industry Knowledge Sharing, JDAs, Licensing, PO, Direct Investment.
Time commitment: 1 year of planning, 3+ years of implementation.
04 Urban Future Prize Competition
Define a sector specific prize track and get access to the bleeding edge startups in that sector, deal flow, thought leadership and UFL’s marquee event of the year.
Time commitment: 1 month of planning, remarks during our annual Urban Future Summit, review deal flow on own time.
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