NASA and Arlington, Virginia-based venture firm FedTech have partnered to launch a business incubation program that will team up license-ripe agency patents with entrepreneurs developing climate-related innovations.
Startup Studio will spearhead a 16-week workshop in June for the chosen technology and enterprise participants, who are expected to present their final business concepts in October, the agency said Thursday.
The patents ready for licensing are intended to address climate change problems through environmental monitoring, waste management and renewable energy.
FedTech will operate the studio to help the teams develop business models, raise funding and discover customers.
The incubator studio will group entrepreneurs according to interest, skill and experience.
“Programs like this help ensure not only that we have access to innovative climate technology, but also that those technologies can be used more broadly by businesses around the world,” said Katherine Calvin, chief scientist and senior climate adviser at NASA.
FedTech and NASA’s Technology Transfer Expansion program drove the formation of companies such as Canopy Aerospace and HealieTech through previously created startup studios.
