Welcome to the Breakthrough Energy Fellows application portal!
Due to an increase in scamming attempts, please note that Breakthrough Energy Fellows does not do business via social media and we will never ask you to make payments to us in currency or cryptocurrency.
We are now accepting applications for Cohort 5!
Applicants and Nominators: Please select "Log In" or "Register" above to find the application or form accessible to you.
INSTRUCTIONS
The application for our Cohort 5 Innovator and Explorer programs is open through December 2, 2024. During this time frame, candidates will submit a Concept Paper and preliminary information. This first stage is identical for both Innovators and Explorers. Candidates will be notified of next steps in late 2024-early 2025. The Cohort 5 program begins in September 2025.
Business Fellows will be considered on an as-needed basis. Please fill out our interest form to be contacted should the opportunity open for Business Fellow candidates to apply.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Breakthrough Energy Fellows (BEF) offers three highly competitive programs:
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 commitment for innovators committed to commercializing their climate technology. Typically, Innovator projects have raised less than $2,000,000 in dilutive funding and are legally incorporated prior to program start date of September 2025.
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.
Explorers: Finally, Explorers receive funding for developing breakthrough climate solutions that are earlier stage, higher technical risk, and may not yet be ready to incorporate. Explorer projects are typically in a university lab or research entity and are overseen by professors, faculty members, or researchers who can remain in position for this part-time opportunity.
For additional information, read more about our programs here or visit our BE Fellows homepage.
TECHNOLOGY FOCUS AREAS
The program is focused 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 address adaptation to climate change.
To learn more about the projects, fellows, and sectors that we have supported, please visit the bio page on the Fellows website!
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.
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.