Calling all brilliant researchers ready to make an impact
EnergyLab’s Climate Tech Lab to Market Program is a 9-week journey connecting individuals with the resources and mentorship to understand how their research might be commercialised through entrepreneurship - that is becoming a founder, and launching a startup. Paving your path for success, this is your entry point into Australia’s largest network of climate tech entrepreneurs and investors. The Climate Tech Lab to Market program is proudly funded by the NSW Government.
Key dates
- Applications open: 1 December 2025 - 2 March 2026
- Interviews: 9 - 27 March 2026
- Program runs: 20 April - 18 June 2026
Meet some of our alumni
Ye Wang (Research Fellow, ANU)
Hoang-Long Du (Senior Research Fellow, Monash University)
Phillip Hamer (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UNSW)
Merinnage Costa (PhD candidate, University of Melbourne)
Benjamin Tonnot (PhD Candidate, University of Newcastle)
Rabin Basnet (Postdoctoral Researcher, ANU)
Hank Garg (PhD candidate, Monash University)
John Rodriguez (Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, UNSW)
Nikolaus Metzger (Founder, High-E Photonics)
Karthikeya Acharya (Founder, DELOCASA)
Eson Zhao (PHD Researcher, UTS)
Tasneem Rangwala (PHD Researcher, UTS)
Why take the leap with us?
We offer expertise in climate tech entrepreneurship. When you join our community, we’ll provide you with the resources and mentorship you need to recognise and build commercial opportunities for your research as a founder. Here’s what’s on offer.
Entrepreneurship as a commercialisation pathway
You’ll learn about how to bring your research to life by creating products and services that create meaningful impact.
Learn the foundations of entrepreneurship
What does it take to start a startup? We’ll show you the different stages of the entrepreneurial journey, and guide you to the launch of your startup.
Hone in on the problem you’re aiming to solve
You have an idea of a problem you want to solve - we’ll support you to collect valuable information, and test your assumptions.
Building a Business
We’ll provide workshops to support you on your commercialisation journey - topics such as incorporation, IP protection and extraction, strategic partnerships, moving up the TRL ladder and fund raising will all be covered.
Explore an idea that creates meaningful value
We’ll help you understand how your startup idea creates value, and for whom. We’ll share methods of learning about your potential customer’s needs, and how to go about validating your idea.
Thrive with dedicated mentorship
You’ll receive personalised support from EnergyLab’s network of over 400 mentors spanning professionals and founders striving towards reaching net-zero and with expertise in leadership, management, operations and more.
Community for life
EnergyLab is home to the largest virtual community of energy entrepreneurs in Australia. You’ll meet other researchers eager to make an impact and on graduating the program you’ll join a pool of over 200 alumni that get access to events and opportunities.
A path forward
EnergyLab’s portfolio of programs span every stage of the entrepreneurial journey, supporting you with the expertise and networks you need to reach every growth milestone.
Program mentors and presenters
EnergyLab's Lab to Market program boasts an impressive roster of speakers. We bring in industry experts to share their knowledge and experiences, as well as researchers turned entrepreneurs to share their journeys and learnings. Our speakers delve into a wide range of topics including ideation, customer discovery, IP & patenting, capital raising, business model canvas, pitching and many other relevant subjects. These are just some of our amazing speakers.
Ashby Field
Business Development Officer, SA Government's Department for Industry, Innovation and Science
LinkedIn
Program structure
This 9-week program will spark your first steps towards building a startup opportunity. One module is delivered each week, with a one-week break. You’ll spend 3 to 4 hours in workshops and 3 hour of at-home work each week.
Module 1: Entrepreneurship as a commercialisation pathway
20 - 24 April 2026
You'll start the program by getting to know the other participants in the program, and hone in on understanding how you can make an impact with your research. You’ll meet some founders who have successfully commercialised their research. You'll get to know more about the different commercialisation pathways.
Module 2: Identifying the right problem to solve
27 April - 1 May 2026
You’ll finetune the problem you're solving for solving for, come up with some potential solutions and pick one to take forward.
Module 3: Customer discovery
4 - 8 May 2026
We’ll deep dive into understanding how your solution solves real-world problems. You’ll learn some customer research tools and shape up a value proposition. You'll get familiar with customer interviewing techniques.
Module 4: Validate & Build
11 - 15 May 2026
You'll start building a business around the value proposition you've been working on. You'll learn how to scope your MVP and using various tools build out your business model.
Break: Customer interviews
18 - 22 May 2026
You’ll spend the week refining your value proposition and validating your idea by undertaking some customer research. You'll also be invited to an optional co-founder matching event.
Module 5: Pitching & Selling
25 - 29 May 2026
You’ll get to meet a range of mentors to get some feedback on your idea and guidance on the way forward during a mentor speed networking event. You'll receive pitch training and a personal branding & sales workshop.
Module 6: Legal Considerations
1 - 5 June 2026
We’ll explore the steps to launching a startup, and how you can protect your key asset - your intellectual property.
Module 7: Raising funds & GTM
8 - 12 June 2026
You'll learn more about the Australian fundraising landscape, including the R&D tax incentive, grants, angel investing and VC. You'll also craft a go-to-market strategy to launch your product or service.
Module 8: Showcase & Graduation
15 - 19 June 2026
The program culminates with an opportunity to mock pitch to a panel of EnergyLab mentors.
Program cost
The program costs $450 (including GST).
We're a non-profit organisation and your contribution goes towards program delivery costs. The price includes:
- 9 weeks of workshops, panel discussions and Q&As
- Frameworks and course content you can keep and use again
- 1-1 startup mentoring from one of our exceptional mentors (2x one-hour sessions)
- Individual check-ins with our Lab to Market Program Lead
- Access to Sydney coworking space
If you're not happy with the program, email us within a month of graduating and we'll give you your money back, no questions asked.
What our alumni have to say
“ The program is a great way to learn where one needs to focus in the journey of being an entrepreneur. Each session has just the right amount of information and the interactive sessions are just fantastic. I highly recommend the Lab to Market Program. ”
PHD Researcher, UTS
“ The EnergyLab program provides access to a great network of mentors and examples within the startup space. It helped focus on the key questions for startup viability and steps to success. ”
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UNSW
“ Lab to Market is an amazing program that will help you transform your ideas and research into a business. ”
Founder & CEO, High-E Photonics
“ This program is incredibly valuable for anyone looking to bridge the gap between research and real-world impact. It provides practical tools, guidance, and industry insights to help transform innovative concepts into viable ventures. ”
Postdoctoral Researcher, ANU
“ The EnergyLab Climate Tech Lab to Market Program provided a comprehensive overview of the mindset shift required to transition from a researcher to an entrepreneur. It covered the essential fundamentals that every new entrepreneur should understand to progress effectively and avoid common pitfalls. I highly recommend this program to researchers, particularly those deeply engaged in technical fields, who are considering the entrepreneurial path. ”
PhD Candidate, University of Melbourne
“ This program is ideal for researchers who are new to the business world. As a resource it provides a great network of business professionals across Australia, and the program's many weekly exercises will help clarify and transit your research to real world. ”
Founder, DELOCASA
Applications
Applications are now closed for the 2025 edition of the Lab to Market program
Applications open
Until 2 March 2026
Submit your application and we’ll get in touch to let you know next steps.
Interviews
From 9 - 27 March 2026
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to a short virtual interview before offers are made.
Offers
March 2026
Successful applicants will be invited to join the program shortly after the interview process.
Program kick off
20 April 2026
You'll be onboarded in the week prior to kick off.
Selection criteria
We support ambitious individuals in Australia or with links to Australia who are eager to explore commercialising their research through entrepreneurship. We’re looking for established researchers, PhD students, and early to mid-career researchers (EMCRs) with research that can contribute to decarbonisation. These are the qualities we’ll select for:
Vision
Are you driven to solve the world’s most pressing climate challenges? Are you eager to learn how your research can make impact?
Spirit
Are you ambitious, comfortable with ambiguity and not afraid to take calculated risks (or become more open to it)?
Hustle
Do you have the tenacity and determination to achieve ambitious goals?
FAQs
The program is delivered entirely virtually, over Zoom. You can dial in from anywhere. There will be opportunities to connect with the EnergyLab community in Sydney and Melbourne.
Not at all. Having a diversity of experience in the cohort makes for rich conversation and learning experiences. All you need is an interest in climate, energy and decarbonisation and a related research project.
No. The aim of this program is to give you the know-how, tools and confidence to take your first steps into the entrepreneurial path. If you already have a startup idea, that's a bonus!
There are 20 spots in each cohort. Participants are selected based on the program criteria.
About 60 hours in total over 9 weeks.
During the program period 20 April - 18 June 2026 workshops will be run on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 17:00 - 18:30/19:00 AEDT. This amounts to 3-4 hours of workshop time each week, with the exception of the break week, where you’ll spend roughly 3 hours on customer research.
You'll also have 2 one-hour mentorship sessions, and to make the most of the program, you’ll be required to do a few hours of work in your own time.
Climate tech: Technologies that are explicitly focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions or addressing the impacts of climate change. Climate tech applications can be broadly categorised into 3 groups, those that:
1) directly mitigate or remove emissions,
2) help us adapt to the impacts of climate change, and
3) enhance our understanding of the climate.
Please email [email protected] if you have any other questions.