Catalyst and DICES

No, you must pick a program but there are no disadvantages to applying to one or the other

If you are eligible for DICES, then it is encouraged that you apply to DICES. Catalyst and DICES are treated equally and fairly across the program. There is no disadvantage to applying to DICES since we have the ability to award applicants across both DICES and Catalyst. We reserve certain grants for only DICES-eligible applicants.

No, we do not have more interest in a specific focus area than another outside of basic eligibility. if it doesn’t fall within one of our focus areas (clean transportation, buildings, net-zero grid, offshore wind) you are still welcome to apply but there is an increased burden and emphasis on GHG impact

Applicants are encouraged to use tools such as the CRANE tool, or other credible public data sources such as the United States Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Emissions Inventory (especially for greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide), the EPA's Greenhouse Gases Equivalencies Calculator, and others. Internally at MassCEC, we do not use one specific tool to verify each person’s claims, we look at the proposal as a whole and look at the sources that the applicant used to generate their calculations.

No, none of these parties need to be located in Massachusetts.

Yes, but MassCEC Catalyst funding will be used to support the work conducted by the applicant and not the external partners. External partners can contribute whatever they wish to the project.

Section V. of the RFP states that interested applicants only need to submit the 30-second self-assessment at the time of application to the Catalyst and DICES programs.

If your application is selected for an award under the program, MassCEC reserves the right to require awardees achieve woman- or minority- owned certification (through the SDO or another certification body).

Yes, you can include the SDO certification as an attachment in the application portal, but please note that is is not required.  There is a place within the application portal that prompts you to upload the SDO documentation (whether that is the self-assessment or the full certification).

A contract must be executed before any work is started.

Section VI. of the RFP has the full definition of what is considered clean energy under the program. Please make the GHG impact very clear in the proposal.

If a startup has an incorporated company and meets the MA-based definition in the RFP, then they are a MA-based early-stage clean energy company.

If a startup has an incorporated company and meets the MA-based definition in the RFP, then they are a MA-based early-stage clean energy company. They may use your personal address, but can also use an address at an incubator if they have space there.

Computers in this case are acceptable. Section X. of the RFP specifies that funding may not be spent on the “Purchase of computers or other unrelated equipment”. That distinction is intended to mean that we would not fund staff computers that would just be used as staff computers, not necessarily for the development of a software or other directly applicable technology development.

You would be eligible to apply as a company if you’ve actually formed and registered a company. The company must be a legally registered entity that can be the counterparty on a contract and receive payments, etc.

Prior sales are not required as part of this grant.