Build your next company on breakthrough lab science.
Technology access, a derisked pathway to fundraising, a dedicated sector specialist team, and hands-on support from people who've built companies before, with no equity taken.
Open roles.
We are hiring founding CEOs and co-founders to build companies on national laboratory technology. Read about the ventures.
Low-power on-device Super Intelligence
About the venture
Space-grade solar at volume
About the venture
Technology sourced across eight DOE national laboratories.
Everything you need to go from lab science to a fundable company.
Start with a decisive technical advantage
You'll work with curated technologies from the national lab complex, IP developed with billions in federal R&D investment that can't be easily replicated. We match you with technology that fits your expertise, your market, and your ambition.
Everything you need to build, no equity taken
Your company receives a $35,000 non-dilutive award once it incorporates. You also get a dedicated build team for product, go-to-market, talent, and fundraising strategy, and direct collaboration with national lab principal investigators. We take zero equity.
Walk into your first investor meeting prepared
We do the diligence work with you before you incorporate. Through our partnership with SRI International, you get structured customer interviews, competitive landscape mapping, and a commercialization strategy that serious investors expect to see.
Investors already at the table
Our investor network is engaged from the start. Their feedback informs which technologies COMPASS prioritizes, and they meet prospective founders before incorporation. By the time you're ready to raise, key investors already know the technology and have seen your team in action.
Waypoints, our lab-investor summit: the investors and research teams you'll be building with. Read the recap.
Where we're building.
We focus on problem areas where lab science can create decisive competitive advantage.
- 01
Autonomy & intelligent systems
Embodied intelligence, autonomous systems, robotics, resilient PNT, and cyber-physical security.
- 02
Advanced sensing
Quantum sensing, space-tech, hypersonics, and precision measurement technologies.
- 03
Advanced manufacturing
Semiconductor metrology, beyond EUV, critical materials, and advanced materials.
- 04
Energy
Fusion, geothermal, grid technologies, fission, and sustainable energy solutions.
The ideal COMPASS founder.
We are looking for executives, operators, and engineering leaders from the industries these companies will sell into, including people who have founded and sold companies before. Prior founding experience helps. It is not required.
- An executive, commercial operator, or engineering leader with real 0-to-1 experience, or a repeat founder
- Deep technical understanding or ability to rapidly learn complex domains
- Strong network in the target market vertical
- Passion for turning breakthrough science into real-world impact
- Long-term commitment to building a category-defining company
How it works.
Application
Choose a role and send us a short note about your background and how you would approach the first year. A resume helps, but the note tells us more. We reply to every application within a week. Each role page also lists the COMPASS partner to contact before applying.
Introductory conversation
A call with the COMPASS team about your experience and the venture. If there is mutual interest, we go into the technology, the laboratory, and the research team in more detail.
Technical and commercial review
A technical review with the research team, and interviews with COMPASS, the laboratory's technology transfer office, and one of our venture advisors. References are checked only with your consent, after both sides agree to proceed.
Joining the founding team
When both sides are ready to commit, you join the founding team and begin building the company with COMPASS.
Apply for a role.
Each role has its own application. If none of the open roles fits, every venture also has a general interest listing. We read every application and reply within a week.