Catalyst

4. How do I know if my project is eligible for Catalyst funding?

Our ability to fund your project depends on whether it meets the program's goals and eligibility requirements. The goal of the Program is to stimulate the commercialization of "Climatetech" (as defined in Section I of the RFP) and related innovation between Technology Readiness Level 2 (technology concept and/or application formulated) and 4 (Component and/or process validation in laboratory environment). If it fits within these technological readiness levels, requires additional research and testing to fully commercialize, and meets the other eligibility requirements outlined in the RFP, we can consider it for funding. We recommend reviewing the RFP for full eligibility details.

5. With regard to formatting, may we eliminate the gray/bluish left column, e.g., in the Technology Overview Section?

No. Other than deleting italicized prompts, for consistency, please use the rest of the template as is.

6. If my business is incorporated legally in a different state but all operations are in MA, do I meet the geographic eligibility requirement for the grant?

As long as the company is registered to do business with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and as long as the company's primary manufacturing operations (if applicable), headquarters, primary sales and marketing, and primary research and development operations are located in Massachusetts you are eligible. We recommend reviewing Section 6 of the RFP for full details.

7. Do interns count as full-time equivalent employees under the Catalyst program? Can I hire more interns before and/or after the grant application?

Interns do not count toward the full-time equivalent employee eligibility. There are no restrictions for the program on the number of interns you can hire before or after the grant application.

8. Can I include a stipend/salary payment for interns in the budget proposal in the grant?

You can include the intern stipend/payment in the budget of the Catalyst grant proposal. We also have an internship program at MassCEC. You may not charge an intern's internship hours to a Catalyst grant if they are also getting paid through the separate internship funding program. Visit the Clean Energy Internship Program for more information.

9. Am I eligible to apply if I am currently not in MA but have plans to move to MA?

Yes, you are eligible to apply as an out-of-state company, however, you must make note in your proposal of your concrete plans for relocating to MA before the time of award announcement. Your award will be contingent on meeting the MA presence requirement in the RFP.

10. Must I already be spun off from my parent company to qualify or can I apply even before spinning out?

Yes, you may submit an application before being spun out, but in order to complete contracting and receive any funds, your company would have to be independently incorporated. According to the RFP: "A pre-incorporation entity may submit an Application, but proof of incorporation will be necessary in order to receive the award."

11. Can a student-led team be considered eligible for Catalyst without being led by a faculty member or researcher? In this situation, can a student be the PI for the project?

No, student-led teams are not eligible for this grant. Per the RFP, a student (or group of students) must be "led by a faculty member or researcher who will act as the PI and will be responsible for managing the grant and reporting requirements."

12. Are the 2 pages (maximum) of an application's Project Plan included in the 11-page total maximum for the complete application?

The Project Plan is posted online, are part of the 11-page maximum for the application. An Appendix is any additional attachment (resume, letter of interest, graphs, figures, etc.) and is not considered part of the 11-page application maximum. There is a 4MB file size limit.

13. Do resumes count toward the 11-page maximum Application total length, or are they extra?

See answer to Question 12.

14. Should figures (e.g. of system prototype & schematic) be placed directly in the application document, or included in an appendix and cited in the application?

This is up to you, you may include figures in your application document; and you also may include them in an appendix document and cited in the application.

15. What are the page and figure limits for the Appendix attachments?

Appendix Attachments do not count toward the 11-page limit for the application; however, there is a maximum file size limit of 4MB.

16. Please clarify the instructions regarding deleting the application form's italicized prompts and retaining column formatting.

The italicized prompts are the text sections in italics in the right-hand column of the Application. Please delete the prompts but retain the original two-column format of the Application form.

17. Can the application form's header guidance text be deleted?

Yes, the application form's header guidance text can be deleted. Please only delete the instructional header guidance. Do not delete the MassCEC and MassVentures logos or the document title header.

18. There is a box in the TRL/ARL sections for "notes". What type of information are you looking for here?

TRL/ARL Notes are optional and may include information about the technology's TRL/ARL that you want to be considered in the Application.

19. In the Project Budget Summary, if the automatic total calculation field does not update correctly, is it acceptable to manually enter the correct total amount (as long as the line items and total are calculated correctly)?

Yes, manually enter the correct total amount, and please doublecheck the math is correct.

20. May we allocate part of the Catalyst budget to hire an external technoeconomic analysis (TEA) consultant to help with this?

Yes, you may use the Catalyst budget to hire an external TEA consultant. In your application itself, please include this in the Project Budget Summary for dollar amounts, and share detail in the Team Members section. You can also explain their role throughout other sections of the application.

21. I am applying as a PI part of a research/academic institution. The RFP states "Indirect costs are not permissible," while the application form states, "If your research institution requires overhead, it needs to be included in this budget." Can you please confirm how my university should understand the relevant overhead cost policy for this budget?

For Catalyst applicants from an academic/research institution, please identify any overhead charges in the budget section of your application. We encourage all academic/research applicants to seek a waiver from overhead costs from their host institution, if possible.

23. I am currently at an academic institution and am planning to spin out the technology. Should I apply to Catalyst as a company or research organization?

The RFP states, "Companies may be student-led; however, if any of the company's intellectual property ("IP") has been licensed or is to be licensed from a university, then verification of the license or option to license must be provided. A pre-incorporation entity may submit an Application, but proof of incorporation will be necessary in order to receive the award."

24. Can an applicant submit more than one Catalyst application?

Yes, but an applicant can only accept one award, if awarded.

25. Can an applicant submit to both Catalyst and InnovateMass at the same time?

Yes, but please confirm that the company and the project meets the eligibility criteria for each program. If awarded, an applicant can only accept one award. Review Section X, subsection Interaction with Other MassCEC Programs of the RFP.

26. I have previously received a Catalyst/Academic Activator grant; can I apply again for a new Catalyst/Academic Activator grant?

Previous awardees may apply again for Catalyst/Academic Activator funding, provided that the proposed technology is a completely different product line/project from the previously funded project

27. If we create a subsidiary, does that count towards financial eligibility (less than $2.5 million combined debt or equity financing, grant funding, and revenues over the past five (5) years?

No, a subsidiary created in order to qualify under the $2.5 million financial cap, as outlined in the Catalyst RFP, is not eligible.

If the subsidiary is created to operate independently of the parent company, this would undergo eligibility review from our team.

28. My company has just passed $2.5 million in revenue, but we're looking to prototype & launch a new device that we've never made before. This is an entirely new product line. Are we eligible to apply for Catalyst funding?

No, your company would not be eligible. Per the Catalyst RFP, Section 6. Eligibility, early-stage companies must have "not received more than Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($2,500,000) in combined debt or equity financing, grant funding, and revenues over the past five (5) years."

29. Is there a preferred method for quantifying the regional climate-resilience benefit of an early-stage technology at TRL 2-4?

In terms of quantifying the climate-resilience benefits, the application form states the following: “MassCEC acknowledges that quantifying Adaptation & Resilience is an emerging field, and we recommend utilizing the 2023 ResilientMass Plan, as well as the World Economic Forum and FEMA’s BCA Toolkit etc. for toolkits and guidance.”

30. Must all the work be performed in Massachusetts?

No. There are no restrictions on where project work is performed, provided the company meets the RFP’s definition of a Massachusetts-based company.

31. Is any applicant cost share or matching contribution required in addition to the $75,000 Catalyst award, or should the proposed project budget consist solely of the $75,000 award amount?

There is no applicant cost share or matching requirement for this award. The proposed project budget should consist only of the $75,000 award amount.

32. Can pre-incorporation, sole inventors, single founders apply for Catalyst funding? For a pre-incorporation, single-founder venture, should the application identify the applicant by the venture’s working name, the founder’s legal name, or both? Is any additional documentation expected at submission beyond the statement that incorporation would occur before contracting and receipt of an award?

Yes, per the RFP: "A pre-incorporation entity may submit an Application, but proof of incorporation will be necessary in order to receive the award."

In the application we ask for both the Principal Investigator and the Company name under the sections "Principal Investigator (PI) or startup executive name" and "PI Research Institution or Company Name." For the company name, please use the name that you intend to incorporate with, should you receive the award. There is no additional documentation expected at submission to indicate intent to incorporate should you be given the award.

33. The RFP requires disclosure of actual or planned generative-AI use. Is a concise disclosure describing the specific uses, human verification, source checking, and exclusion of confidential information sufficient, or does MassCEC require a particular format or level of detail?

We ask for an explanation of how generative-AI was used in the application, so you must disclose any uses of AI in writing the application or in completing the work proposed.

34. Would commercialization expenses including travel to industry conferences relevant to the project be allowable within the budget?

Yes, it is acceptable to use Catalyst funds for travel to industry conferences are allowable expenses so long as you specify within the application how the planned travel will benefit the project. There is a caveat to this that we might ask for more details as we review the workplan during the contracting phase should you be awarded.

35. For an applicant company whose existing product is already in commercial operation, should the Readiness Calculator be completed for the proposed grant-funded technology and project scope, or for the company's technology platform as a whole? Our proposed project is a new, early-stage deployment layer built on an operating platform, and the two score very differently.

The Technology Readiness Calculator should be used on the technology as a whole, unless the product you are proposing is a stand-alone technology. If the technology is separate and distinct from the operating platform that you reference, you can use the Readiness calculator based on just the new proposed technology. If the new technology is iterating on top of the already existing operating platform and is just an additional piece on top of the platform, the preexisting platform should be factored into the Readiness calculation.

36. The RFP's typical uses of funds include employee salary, and the application form's budget table includes a PI/Project Lead personnel line. Could you please confirm if a founder who is a W-2 employee of the applicant company may be budgeted on that line for project work?

Yes, you can include employee salaries in the budget.

37. We have a product that has higher TRL, commercial traction and market validation. We are developing a new generation/version of the technology that is TRL 3, we want to apply to Catalyst for the development of this new version. Would this be considered a good fit?

If you meet the program’s eligibility, you can apply. TRL 3 is within the eligible range. Your application will undergo complete eligibility review upon submission.

38. Our company has developed a technology that we have seen MassCEC fund through the program in the past. We believe we have meaningful advances we can make to this technology’s field - should we apply given that other companies in the same field have received awards?

Yes, you should apply. MassCEC encourages healthy competition in industries to push these technologies further.

39. I saw that "Enabling Solutions" is a new category. There is a bit of description in the RFP but looking for more insight. Specifically, would a platform chemical technology that enables more efficient bioprocesses to make renewable chemicals fit in that category?

We cannot assess full technological eligibility without seeing a proposal with all details. We encourage you to review the Request for Proposals document and use your best judgment to determine if you align with this category.

40. Does a prototype need to developed at full scale or can it be scaled for testing and data acquisition?

Either is acceptable – applicants should propose projects that are reasonable and achievable within the program framework.

41. Could you elaborate a bit more on your expectations for the Total Addressable Carbon (TAC) estimation. Our technology's carbon impact depends on the customers we serve and can therefore have multiple TACs. We accelerate carbon reduction by companies that replace for example fossil derived fuels. Should we use their replacement potential as TAC?

The TAC is up to your discretion so long as you provide a clear path to follow with how you obtained your estimations. In this situation we'd recommend that you provide a few scenarios. In the RFP there are recommendations for sources.

42. Do you have examples of successful project scopes/types for this program?

We cannot give examples of prior funded projects Scope of Works, but we suggest you examine all allowable expenses with the grant funds to guide you in drafting your own Scope of Work.

43. Given that the eligibility requirements are pretty stringent, would it be possible to submit a two page 'Concept Paper' to assess the likelihood of funding prior to submitting a full proposal?

No, we do not accept concept papers. We recommend that you review the RFP to determine eligibility.

44. Project site location: Is it acceptable for Catalyst to use the applicant’s own residential property as a secondary installation / instrumentation site, provided testing is documented and primary feasibility metrics come from controlled characterization?

Yes, it is fine to use the Catalyst funding for your project site at one’s residential property.

45. May Catalyst funds be used to subcontract a US (preferably Massachusetts / New England) machine shop or specialty fabricator to produce related prototype hardware, as a direct project cost under the approved budget?

Yes, Catalyst funds may be used for direct project costs such as subcontracting fabrication of specific prototype hardware. Please see Section 10. Budget for the complete details on eligible costs.

46. Are non-profit organizations registered in Massachusetts eligible to apply for the Catalyst or Academic Activator programs?

For Catalyst/Academic Activator, MA-based non-profit research institutions include universities, colleges, hospitals, research institutes, and federal research labs. Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the non-profit research institution criteria.

47. If we plan to hire a team member to conduct activities listed in our project proposal, can we use the grant toward their salary?

Yes, you can use the grant funding to hire employees. Please review the RFP's Section 10. Budget for the complete details on what is allowed for a Catalyst project budget.

48. What information, if any, must we provide regarding hiring a new team member? Will a job description suffice if they haven't been hired yet?

We cannot provide guidance on how to describe the team member's role; however, we encourage you to review the RFP in how Catalyst application proposals are reviewed.

Section 9. Evaluation Criteria provides detail on how each proposal is reviewed, and you may use this to guide how you describe the team member's planned role for your technology development and commercialization plan.

49. We are in the process of licensing data that demonstrates our technology readiness level. If we receive a license to this data in early October, can we submit it to support our application after the due date? We would be able to describe the TRL by the September 30 due date, but we could not provide exhibits until after Sept 30.

We will not accept any additional materials after the deadline of 5:00PM EDT September 30th, 2026. If the data license is not complete by the deadline, you may include as much information as you would like with regard to the data licensing status as of 5:00PM EDT September 30th.

50. If an applicant is below the $2,500,000 threshold at the time of application but crosses it afterwards (before finalist selection, award notification, or execution of the grant agreement), does that affect eligibility? Is there a notification obligation if the threshold is crossed after application?

If an applicant crosses the $2,500,000 threshold before finalist selection and award notification, that will impact eligibility and we need to be notified.

If an applicant crosses the $2,500,000 threshold at execution of the grant agreement, notification is good for own tracking purposes, and eligibility would not be impacted.

51. If an applicant has four or fewer FTEs at the time of application and subsequently hires a fifth employee before execution of the grant agreement, does that affect eligibility?

If a company reaches more than four FTEs at any point during application and award notification, this will impact eligibility. 

52. What does the Proposed Starting Date on Page 1 of the Application refer to?

The Proposed Start Date refers to when the applicant proposes starting their Catalyst grant project. For Fall applicants, generally the award notification occurs in late January, for your reference. For Spring applicants, generally the award notification occurs in early July, for reference.

53. Can Catalyst funding be requested for one specific phase of the project as opposed to the entire technology stack?

The funding must go to technology development. Please refer to the RFP Sections 4, 6, 9, and 10 to understand how the funding is meant to be used and how applications are evaluated. This said, we encourage every applicant to read the RFP in its complete entirety.

54. Do you require submission of the ARL calculator for our technology as an attachment to the application?

You may include the ARL calculator of your technology as an Appendix attachment, or a screenshot within your application. This is optional; there is no obligation for this.