Answers before you apply.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Technology Commercialization, through the Technology Commercialization Fund. The TCF exists specifically to bridge federal research and commercial application.

Eight DOE labs. COMPASS is co-developed by SLAC and Sandia National Laboratories, with participation from Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos, Brookhaven, Savannah River, the National Laboratory of the Rockies, and the Kansas City National Security Campus. The full coalition is on the team page.

COMPASS is run by the technology transfer offices of SLAC and Sandia and works through each partner lab's technology transfer office. It adds venture building to what those offices already do: we put together the founding team, run diligence before the company forms, and build the company alongside the founders and the lab teams. Licensing follows each lab's standard process.

People who have operated in the market the company will sell into: executives, commercial operators, engineering leaders, and repeat founders. Some roles are the founding CEO. Prior founding experience helps but is not required; deep knowledge of the industry is. The full profile and the open roles are on the Open Roles page.

No. COMPASS sources technology from the national lab complex and matches it to the right founder. You don't bring the IP. We match you with it, and the license is negotiated with the lab's Technology Transfer Office. Your market instinct, execution ability, and sector expertise are what we're matching against.

The founding team, you and any scientific co-founders, owns 100% of the company at incorporation. COMPASS takes no equity. The technology license is negotiated separately with the lab through standard DOE pathways.

Each posting lists its location. Founding roles expect regular time at the lab; how much depends on the technology, and onsite time follows the lab's site-access rules.

Yes. Co-founder teams are welcome, and in deep tech, often preferred. Apply together; we'll evaluate the team as a unit.

COMPASS does not pay founders directly. Founders join a founding team rather than take a job, and they own the company together. Once the company incorporates, COMPASS transfers a $35,000 non-dilutive award to it, which can cover founder salaries. COMPASS takes no equity. Founders may participate part-time during the program.

The program runs about six months. It includes a 90-day diligence sprint before the company incorporates, and the company raises when it has the evidence its investors need to see. See the methodology for the step-by-step.

TRL 3 and above. The underlying science has to be demonstrated well enough for a company to form after a 90-day diligence sprint. We don't engage with TRL 1-2 concepts. The diligence-and-build model doesn't work when the science itself still needs years of fundamental research.

Terms vary by lab. Each partner national laboratory has its own Technology Transfer Office and licensing policies. Typical arrangements begin with an exclusive option agreement to the new company, negotiated at or near company formation.

Investors share market perspective on commercial viability, review structured diligence packages during the 90-day sprint, and meet prospective founders before companies are formed. By the time a COMPASS company is ready to raise, key investors have watched the team develop through the program. More detail on the investors page.

Typically pre-seed or seed on their first institutional round. Companies incorporate after the 90-day diligence sprint and raise when they are ready. They are still early-stage deep-tech companies with the risks that come with that.

Bring operating experience, domain knowledge, and industry relationships to the teams turning national lab science into companies. It is a six-month volunteer role, with monthly committee sessions and working meetings with the teams you advise. Learn more about the role on the advisors page.