CLEVELAND, OH — Octet Scientific, Inc. has been awarded $1 Million from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to conduct research and development (R&D) work on making safer and more sustainable grid-scale battery storage.

Zinc-based batteries are emerging as safe, economical, sustainable, and made-in-the-USA options for our transition to renewable energy. Octet Scientific is playing a key role by being the first company to develop new chemicals specifically for zinc batteries, making them last longer, hold more energy, and run more efficiently. This funding will accelerate Octet’s product optimization and production scale-up to meet the rising needs of the grid storage market.

“NSF accelerates the translation of emerging technologies into transformative new products and services,” said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF Assistant Director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. “We take great pride in funding deep-technology startups and small businesses that will shape science and engineering results into meaningful solutions for today and tomorrow.”

“Imagine nonflammable, nontoxic, high-performance batteries that are mined, manufactured, used, and recycled right here in the US,” says Octet founder and CEO, Onas Bolton. “They are possible today with zinc, and with our chemicals they will be the most competitive option for tomorrow’s power grid!”

All proposals submitted to the NSF SBIR/STTR program, also known as America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, undergo a rigorous merit-based review process. Once a small business is awarded a Phase I SBIR/STTR grant, it becomes eligible to apply for Phase II funding and additional supplements totaling up to $1.7 million. To get started, startups or entrepreneurs submit a written Project Pitch to see if their technology idea could be a good fit for the program. To learn more about America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, visit: https://seedfund.nsf.gov/.

NSF has several programs that help accelerate the translation of research results to practice and provide pathways for researchers, startups and aspiring entrepreneurs to move their ideas from the laboratory to the market and society. To learn more about how NSF helps unlock future technologies for national and societal impact, visit: https://beta.nsf.gov/tip/latest.

About the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Small Business Programs: America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF awards more than $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $2 million to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.5 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.

About Octet: Octet Scientific, Inc. is ensuring that tomorrow’s cleanest energy is stored in the world’s cleanest batteries. Our OctoLyteTM electrolyte chemicals give safe, sustainable zinc-based batteries the high performance they need for devices, backup power, and on the grid. The world’s first company dedicated to optimizing zinc battery chemistry, Octet was founded in 2017 in Cleveland, OH and has won the support of the National Science Foundation and the State of Ohio. For more information visit www.octetsci.com.

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