Startup Fellows Bring Novel Clean Energy and Materials Tech to National Lab Program

Four startup founders selected as West Gate fellows at the National Laboratory of the Rockies will develop technologies including affordable domestic magnesium production, geothermal energy from heat and rocks, ultralight batteries, and safer chlorine manufacturing. The two-year fellowship provides access to lab expertise and commercialization resources through the U.S. Department of Energy's Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program. The cohort aims to bridge the gap between laboratory research and market-ready products.

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The West Gate fellowship operates as one of four nodes within the U.S. Department of Energy's Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program, granting founders two years of access to National Laboratory of the Rockies facilities, expert guidance, and commercialization support. The 2026 cohort comprises seven fellows total, with these four profiled in part one of a two-part series.

Big Blue Technologies' automated, electrified smelting process is designed to outperform the conventional Pidgeon method on material, energy, and