> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://pvweekly.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Five founders gained two years inside Argonne’s laboratories - URL: https://pvweekly.com/argonne-founders-laboratory-fellowships/ - Published: 2026-10-27T19:29:56.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-27T19:29:56.000Z - Description: 2024 archive · The July 2024 entrepreneurship cohort paired technical research with support for turning batteries, materials and quantum ideas into businesses. - Author: PV Weekly Editorial - Tags: Research & Opportunities, Archive 2024, #ledger-format, #archive-backfill-20261027 **2024 archive** · July 17, 2024Reporting prepared October 22, 2026\. This retrospective describes events and expectations from the period covered.For current eligibility and deadlines, consult the latest agency notice.[Browse the archive](https://pvweekly.com/archive/) A founder developing battery chemistry needs somewhere to make and test cells. A founder turning waste plastic into a useful material needs equipment, expertise and evidence that the process could become a business. Argonne National Laboratory’s July 17, 2024, selection of five entrepreneurs addressed those needs by putting the innovators inside the laboratory for two years. The eighth cohort of Chain Reaction Innovations was scheduled to begin that July. Each selected entrepreneur would work full-time at Argonne with a host scientist. The program belonged to the Department of Energy’s Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program, or LEEP, which combined technical development with the less familiar work of building a company. The five projects ranged widely. Haining Gao would pursue a hybrid solid-liquid cathode for lithium primary batteries. Jhana Porter’s work concerned converting surplus biological feedstocks into valuable polymer products, while Scott Svadlenak would investigate the economic viability of a process for upgrading PVC waste. Angela Feldhaus proposed platforms for atmospheric sensing and telecommunications, and Berk Kovos brought quantum-bit technology through SynthBits. The battery project illustrates why this kind of support extends beyond business coaching. Primary batteries are designed for use without recharging. In earlier research published in 2022, Gao and collaborators investigated liquid fluorinated compounds that could participate in energy-producing reactions, alongside a solid cathode. The liquid therefore did more than provide the medium through which charge-carrying ions moved. That approach aimed to make more of the battery’s contents contribute to its energy capacity. The research paper reported a hybrid design combining the liquid reactant with carbon monofluoride, supported by compatible operating voltages. MIT’s contemporaneous account distinguished demonstrated improvement from the larger improvement the researchers hoped to achieve. The chemistry was promising; optimizing a complete product remained a separate undertaking. Gao’s 2024 fellowship selection did not establish that the battery had reached commercial production. LEEP’s January 2024 fact sheet described the resources available to confront such gaps. Its support included a paid fellowship of up to $115,000 a year for two years, $150,000 for technical work at a national laboratory, healthcare benefits and a yearly travel allowance. DOE characterized the support as non-dilutive: participants did not exchange ownership in their companies for that assistance. These were the program’s stated terms, rather than a reported cash disbursement to each member of Argonne’s new cohort. For a small technical team, separating the founder’s support from laboratory work matters. Keeping an entrepreneur focused on development and paying for experiments solve related but different problems. Access to a scientist who understands the measurement can also help a team decide which experiment is worth doing next. The selection process tested more than scientific credentials. Argonne said applicants went through a national solicitation and two pitch rounds assessed by industry experts, investors, scientists and engineers. DOE’s program design also provided entrepreneurship training, networking and opportunities to present to investors and partners. The intended progression was from a research result toward a technology and organization capable of serving customers. This was a completed 2024 cohort selection, not a current invitation to apply. The announcement committed support and laboratory collaboration to five development efforts. It did not certify their manufacturing economics or predict which startup would succeed. The useful opportunity was time inside an established research institution to answer questions that a young company could struggle to investigate on its own. ## Sources - [Entrepreneurship program at Argonne Announces Newest Cohort](https://chainreaction.anl.gov/2024/07/17/entrepreneurship-program-at-argonne-announces-newest-cohort/?ref=pvweekly.com) — Argonne National Laboratory / Chain Reaction Innovations · 2024-07-17. - [The Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP)](https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-01/lab%5Fembedded%5Fentrepreneurship%5Fprogram%5Ffact%5Fsheet%5F1.pdf?ref=pvweekly.com) — U.S. Department of Energy · 2024-01. - [Fluoro-organosulfur catholytes to boost lithium primary battery energy](https://authors.library.caltech.edu/records/pqve6-aga57?ref=pvweekly.com) — Gao and colleagues / Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, via CaltechAUTHORS · 2022-11-03. - [New materials could enable longer-lasting implantable batteries](https://news.mit.edu/2022/nonrechargeable-batteries-electrolyte-1104?ref=pvweekly.com) — Massachusetts Institute of Technology · 2022-11-04.