Welcome to the Breakthrough Energy Fellows Application!
Beware of scams and phishing attempts. Breakthrough Energy does not conduct official business via social media and will never ask you to make payments in cash, gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency.
Welcome to the Breakthrough Energy Fellows Application!
Applicants and Nominators: Please select "Log In" or "Register" above to find the application or form accessible to you.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Applications are now open to join the 2026 Cohort of the Breakthrough Energy Fellows Program. Steps in the selection process include:
- Step 1: Submitting a Concept Paper and preliminary information – applications accepted through November 10, 2025
- Step 2: Selected Concept Papers will be asked to submit a Full Application with additional information
- Step 3: Selected Full Applications will be invited to participate in a Deep-Dive interview session
- Step 4: The Cohort 6 program begins in September 2026
The above timeline applies to the Innovator Fellowship. Business Fellows and Explorers will be considered on a rolling basis. For the Business Fellowship, please fill out our interest form to be contacted should the opportunity open.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Breakthrough Energy Fellows is part of Breakthrough Energy Discovery, our platform dedicated to advancing pre-venture, early-stage clean tech innovation. BE Fellows offers three highly competitive pathways:
Innovator Fellowship: Our flagship program, the Innovator Fellowship, is designed to accelerate the development of promising early-stage climate technologies. The Fellowship is a full-time, one-year commitment for innovators committed to commercializing their climate technology. Typically, Innovator projects have raised less than $2M in dilutive funding and must be legally incorporated prior to program start date of September 2026.
Business Fellowship: The Business Fellowship is also a full-time program, designed for experienced business professionals. Business Fellows support Innovators in their technology commercialization efforts, complementing the scientific expertise of our Innovators. These exceptional business experts are recruited on an as-needed basis. Please fill out our interest form to be contacted should the opportunity open.
Explorers: Explorers receive funding for developing breakthrough climate solutions that are earlier stage, higher technical risk, and novel breakthroughs. Explorers are typically in a university lab or research entity and are overseen by professors, faculty members, or researchers who are advancing proof-of-concept ideas that require further technical exploration before spinning out of the institution.
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREAS
The program focuses on technologies that have the potential, at scale, to reduce or capture greenhouse gases by at least 500 million tons per year or technologies that meaningfully address adaptation to climate change.
To learn more about the projects, Fellows, and sectors that we have supported, please visit the BE Fellows Look Book.
We continue to welcome high-impact innovations across all technology categories that meet our emissions threshold. Most notably, we are looking for breakthrough technologies that are not incremental, but a step change improvement to incumbent technologies and solutions. You can see more at our FAQ.
Please note that Breakthrough Energy does not conduct financial business of any kind on social media. If someone represents themselves as Breakthrough Energy staff and makes a financial request of you via social media, it is likely a scam. The best way to connect with the Fellows program in our official capacity is via email. We use breakthroughenergy.org or befellows.org email domains. Please feel free to email information@befellows.org to verify the validity of suspicious outreach.