|
SEPTEMBER 21-22, 2026 | NATIONAL HARBOR, MD |
From Lab to Impact: Bioindustrial Breakthroughs
The U.S. bioeconomy will be won or lost at scale.
Breakthrough biology exists. What’s missing is cost-competitive production, industrial integration, and real-world deployment. This challenge calls on innovators to close that gap.
The Industrial Biotech Innovation Prize Challenge supports technologies that move beyond lab success into operational systems, advancing scalable production, reducing cost barriers, and enabling adoption across U.S. manufacturing and supply chains.
Whether your work is in microbial systems, enzymatic processes, synthetic biology, or industrial-scale bioprocessing, this is an opportunity to demonstrate solutions that can be built, scaled, and deployed.
Finalists will present live in front of industry leaders, investors, and government stakeholders focused on deployment, not just discovery.
This challenge is part of a broader push to strengthen the U.S. bioeconomy, connecting innovation directly to industrial capacity, capital, and national priorities.
Focus Areas
Cost-Competitive Bio-Based Production
Bio-based products or processes that can compete with conventional alternatives on cost, performance, and scalability in real-world markets
Scalable Biomanufacturing and Process Innovation
Biomanufacturing methods, systems, or technologies that improve efficiency, reliability, or throughput from pilot to commercial-scale production environments
Feedstocks, Inputs and Circular Conversion
Utilize diverse, low-value, or waste inputs to create valuable products through biological processes, enabling more sustainable and circular industrial systems
Industrial Integration and Deployment Pathways
Enable practical deployment of bioindustrial solutions within existing infrastructure, supply chains, or industrial operations, reducing barriers to adoption and scale
Who Should Apply
We welcome innovators working at the intersection of:
- Industrial Biotechnology
- Synthetic Biology and Metabolic Engineering
- Bioprocessing and Fermentation Systems
- Chemical and Materials Engineering
- Industrial Manufacturing and Scale-Up Innovation
- Supply Chain, Infrastructure, and Process Integration
- Computational, AI, and Data-Driven Approaches to Biological or Industrial Systems
We also encourage applications from startups, researchers, engineers, and industry teams developing solutions that improve the cost, scalability, or deployment of bioindustrial production.
Scope and Innovation Guardrails
All submissions must:
- Utilize biological systems (microbes, enzymes, cell-free systems, etc.)
- Identify the incumbent product or process being improved or replaced
- Demonstrate a clear and defensible cost or performance advantage
- Define a credible next step toward to real-world impact, including technical, commercial, or deployment milestones
- Clearly articulate the primary technical or commercial barrier being addressed
Pitch to Win
TechConnect will invite finalists to present their solutions to a panel of industry, government, and technical experts.
Finalist Benefits Include:
✓ |
Full conference pass |
✓ |
Visibility to industry, government, and ecosystem leaders focused on deployment |
✓ |
Eligibility for a $50,000 total prize pool |
✓ |
Connection to a growing ecosystem advancing U.S. bioindustrial capacity |
PROGRAM TIMELINE
| ◉ | Launch: May 11 |
| ◉ | Informational Webinar: June 11 |
| ◉ | Applications Due: June 26 |
| ◉ | Semifinalist Notifications: Early July |
| ◉ | Semifinalist Virtual Pitch: July 22 |
| ◉ | Finalist Notifications: Late July |
| ◉ | Live Pitch Event: September 22 |
Presented by  |
Powered by  |