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Request for Proposals: Round 4 – 2026

RFP Release Date

Thursday, February 26, 2026 via the NENY Newsletter and website
Dedicated email release on March 16, 2026.

Information Webinar

Tuesday, March 24, 2026 | 10:00-11:30 a.m. ET
Watch the webinar recording here. Service Provider informational videos on the Technical Assistance program page

Office Hours

Monday, March 30, 2026 from 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ET and Wednesday April 1, 2026 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET

Application Verification Review Meetings

Sign up for a 20-minute meeting with the Program Manager to briefly review your application before the deadline. These meetings ensure that your application is complete and not missing any key information. Meetings are available from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET, Monday April 6 – Thursday, April 9, 2026. Sign-up details will be published via Google Form on March 30, 2026, after the first office hours. Requirements for Application Verification Review Meetings:

  • Your application must be submitted through the portal before scheduling a meeting.
  • You must bring 3-5 specific questions to discuss during the meeting.

*Important Note on Application Verification Review Meeting: These meetings are solely to check for missing information. NENY is not responsible for any omissions in the application, and these meetings do not assess response quality or influence award decisions.

Standard Potential employees work in their Tarrytown laboratory, where they are developing sodium-ion battery technology.

Program Funding Cycle

Proposal Deadline: Friday, April 10, 2026 | 5:00 p.m. ET

Anticipated award timeframe: Early Summer 2026.

Program administrators reserve the right to make no awards during a funding cycle.

New Energy New York (NENY) is an initiative funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration and Empire State Development to support the rapid growth of the U.S. battery and energy storage industry by establishing an innovation and manufacturing cluster in Upstate New York. NENY Coalition Members Binghamton University and New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology Consortium (NY-BEST) seek to catalyze battery and energy storage technology innovation and commercialization in New York State (NYS), and in particular Upstate New York, through the New Energy New York Technical Assistance Program.

Program grants, awarded on a competitive proposal basis, will cover the costs associated with development, prototyping, testing, and certification services through qualified providers for eligible battery and energy storage startups and small to medium-sized companies in NYS.

This competitive funding opportunity is issued by New Energy New York to catalyze technology development and scale-up by regional battery and energy storage startups and small to medium-sized companies through grants to support utilization of qualified shared-used development, prototyping, testing, and/or certification services and facilities in NYS.

The objectives of the program are to:

  • Increase access to and utilization of NYS battery and energy storage testbeds, process development, and prototyping infrastructure.
  • Subsidize access to research and development equipment, facilities, and services for NY-based startups and small to medium-sized companies that are developing innovative technologies in the battery and energy storage space.
  • Promote the development, launch, and deployment of new battery and energy storage technologies.
  • Support energy storage business growth and economic development in NYS, and in particular the NENY service region (Delaware, Chenango, Broome, Tioga, Tompkins, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, and Monroe counties).

II.A. Applicant requirements:

  • The applicant company must be developing battery or energy storage technologies, with preference given to battery technologies. Eligible technologies span the entire supply chain, from materials to manufacturing, battery system management, power electronics, battery applications, safety, and end of life and recycling.
  • The company must have at least one physical establishment location in NYS during the application process, program utilization, and one year following program contract execution, as defined by any of the following:
    • Primary headquarters or principal place of business;
    • Manufacturing facility;
    • Research and development facility or location.

The above can include NYS incubator locations. Preference will be given to companies operating and having impacts in Upstate New York, and in particular the NENY service region (Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Monroe, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins counties).

  • The applicant company must have a Unique Entity Identifier (SAM) from SAM.GOV or DUNS number.
  • At the time of application, to be eligible for Track A, applicants must be a start-up company; this will be defined as companies who have NOT raised more than $2M in debt or equity funding from non-governmental sources, and have been in business for less than 5 years, at the time of the application process. The company must have at least one physical establishment location in NYS during the application process, program utilization, and one year following program contract execution. At the time of application, to be eligible for Track B, applicants must be a small to medium-sized company; this will be defined as companies who have no more than 500 employees in the State, less than $5M in product sales revenue attributable to the subject product/technology in the previous fiscal year. The company must have at least one physical establishment location in NYS during the application process, program utilization, and one year following program contract execution.
  • The applicant company must obtain a signed letter & service quote from a participating facility confirming that they are capable and willing to provide the services that will be supported by the program. The service quote must align with the proposed budget, and both the letter and the quote will be required to be submitted with the application. Eligible service providers may be changed following award, upon program administration approval, based on cost and/or availability considerations.
  • Applicant companies must be able to provide matching funds as detailed below in Section IV.
  • Preference will be given to first time applicants.

II.B. Eligible service providers include, but are not limited to:

While proposals may include funding requests to support use of facilities or service providers outside of NYS, preference will be given to NYS-based service providers and facilities. The decision to approve facilities outside of NYS will be made by the program review committee on a case-by-case basis. The committee can deny the request.

III.A. Award Tracks:

Track A. Awards of up to $75,000 can be granted to projects in which the applicant is a start-up company; this will be defined as companies who have NOT raised more than $2M in debt or equity funding from non-governmental sources, and have been in business for less than 5 years, at the time of the application process. The company must have at least one physical establishment location in NYS during the application process, program utilization, and one year following program contract execution.

Track B. Awards of up to $100,000 can be granted to projects in which the applicant is a small to medium-sized company; this will be defined as companies who have no more than 500 employees in the State, less than $5M in product sales revenue attributable to the subject product/technology in the previous fiscal year. The company must have at least one physical establishment location in NYS during the application process, program utilization, and one year following program contract execution.

III.B. Funding:

Eligible applicants can receive support of up to $75,000 for Track A and up to $100,000 for Track B to defray costs associated with services for the development of battery and energy storage technologies at qualifying facilities, including, but not limited to:

  • Lab- and commercial-scale prototyping services;
  • Testing services;
  • Certification services;
  • Pilot-scale (non-commercial) contract manufacturing services.

All requests must specifically describe how the requested service will advance the development and commercialization readiness of the applicant’s battery or energy storage technology. Manufacturing services for sale or commercial use are not eligible under this opportunity.

Eligible applicants can apply for a single award per round. The service providers will provide the detailed invoice to the program administrator for the services rendered to the client. Award funds will be disbursed directly to the service provider or testing facility. Awards MUST be utilized within 6 months of signing of the program contract. No extensions will be granted during Round 4. Any unused approved funding amounts will be canceled after the 6-month period and returned to the program budget for future use.

A financial match is required, according to the scale below.

1-5 Employees
No match required, but applicants must provide evidence of leveraged resources (e.g. staff time, equipment, etc.)

6-20 Employees
Minimum 10% cash (total project cost) E.g., of $100k total project, funding will provide $90k, or $100k funding will support a project of $111k total, requiring $11k match from the applicant.

21-50 Employees
Minimum 25% cash match (total project cost)

51-500 Employees
Minimum 50% cash match (total project cost)

Documented discounts in overhead/facilities & administrative (F&A)/indirect rates or documented discounts from standard rates from service providers can also be considered as cash match.

All applications must include the following documentation to be submitted via the NENY application portal:

  • Online company information application questions.
  • Signed letter from an eligible facility confirming that they are capable and willing to provide the services that will be supported by the program if awarded.
  • Service cost quote from the eligible facility detailing estimated service costs associated with activities described in the proposal (Service quote must align with budget).
  • Proposal narrative to be submitted as a PDF with the following sections (please use provided WORD template, and save and upload as a PDF):
  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY/ABSTRACT (200 words max): provide a summary overview of the proposed project.
  2. COMPANY OVERVIEW (200 words max): Provide a brief overview of the company history, stage, and technology and market focus areas.
  3. TECHNOLOGY (300 words max): Provide overview of the technology being developed by the company that will be advanced through the proposed project. What problem does it solve? What stage of development is the technology at? [TRL] How has it been tested or validated to date? What is unique or transformational about the technology?
  4. COMMERCIALIZATION POTENTIAL (250 words max): provide an overview of the unmet market need addressed by the technology and the potential path to market. What is the first application and/or first customer for the technology?
  5. PROPOSED PROJECT (500 words max): Describe the proposed testing, prototyping, validation, or certification project, making sure to address the following:
  6. Type(s) of services that the applicant will have to utilize for the project;
  7. Service provider or facility and how they’re positioned to provide the specific services;
  8. How the services will significantly advance the technology and/or commercialization readiness of your innovation/product.
  9. SCOPE OF WORK WITH TIMELINE AND DELIVERABLES/MILESTONES (300 WORDS MAX): Provide a list of specific tasks and approximate timelines for completion of each under the proposed project. For example, (i) sample preparation by the applicant company, (ii) sample testing by service provider, and (iii) testing data analysis by the applicant company represent potential tasks. Please make sure to provide a scope of work that is specific to your project.
  10. DETAILED BREAKDOWN OF PROPOSAL BUDGET: Provide a budget breakdown with the following information:
  11. Total project Budget (please use the provided EXCEL template, in addition to the WORD template for the narrative, and save and upload as a PDF).
  12. Budget narrative, which should be a short description of use of funds.
    1. Include information in Budget and Budget Narrative on leveraged resources value (applicants with 1-5 employees) or matching funds amounts, sources, and short description of use in project.

A recent (<3 months) NYS Department of State Certificate of Status (Certificate of Good Standing) may be required upon selection for award.

Following submission, the applications will be subject to a competitive review process. Additional information, meeting or site visit to the applicant site may be required. Upon application approval, the applicant and program administrator will execute a program contract detailing the terms and conditions of the program, commencing the 6-month period during which the program must be utilized as a qualifying facility.  At the end of the program period, the applicant will submit to the program administrator a completion report detailing the scope of work achieved.

The evaluation criteria are available online at the following link and are also provided to application reviewers during the review process. Applications are assessed by a panel of qualified evaluators from industry, academia, and regional economic development agencies. These reviewers provide recommendations to the program’s Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI), with final approval determined by the New Energy New York governance committee.

All program awardees must annually report economic impact data to NENY upon the completion of the project for a period of three years from the date of the program contract. For one year from the date of the program contract, the applicant must have at least one physical establishment in NYS as defined by any of the following: primary headquarters or principal place of business; manufacturing facility; research and development facility. All award contracts must be executed within three months of the Kick-Off Award Meeting with the Program Manager. Failure to comply with program requirements or terms and conditions will require the applicant to make full re-payment of the grant award.