Anna Klug works on lab equipment with multiple monitors.
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The Spark CTA was created in partnership with Evergreen Climate Innovations (previously Clean Energy Trust) and other partners to support early stage cleantech businesses and drive commercialization of their technologies in Tennessee and throughout the Midwest and the Southeast. 


The Spark Cleantech Accelerator is a 12-week program and will kick-off on Aug. 19, 2024 at the UT Research Park in Knoxville, Tennessee. The program provides mentorship, connections, stipends, prototyping services, and business acceleration services to early stage cleantech entrepreneurs to help commercialize new innovations.

4 Men Looking Enthusiastically at Science Equipment

Photo Credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy

In our 12-week, in-person program, we offer:

  • $15,000 Stipends to help defray travel/living costs and to support business and technical milestones
  • Prototyping services through the University of Tennessee’s Center for Materials Processing,
  • Mentoring and one-on-one support from our experts in business, market analysis and positioning, and IP/ patent strategy, product design, engineering, prototyping, testing, material selection, tooling design, and manufacturing,
  • Connections with customers, investors, strategic partners, suppliers, and universities and national laboratories,
  • Training Workshops and one-on-one support.
  • Partnership opportunities with organizations such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, Oak Ridge National Lab, the University of Tennessee, the City of Knoxville, and members of the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council.
Read more in the overview!

“The quality connections made while participating in the accelerator, through the speakers, the Energy Mentor Network, the East Tennessee Economic Council, the Queen City Angels, and other mentors and advisors, were incredible and not something we were able to find anywhere else. These connections are critical in making our next steps possible.”

—Kay Baker, Green Llama

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Funding Support


Programming Support

Meet the team

The UT Research Park team is dedicated to helping both established companies and entrepreneurs forge successful collaborations with the community, industry partners, and University of Tennessee. With our strong ties to university leadership, faculty and students, we’re able to help connect your new ideas or current challenges to the correct solution.

Learn more

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