Accelerating the path from discovery to deployment through new models of innovation funding
The U.S. National Science Foundation Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP) launched STRIDE Ventures — an initiative operated by the Start2 Group — to advance innovations that reinforce U.S. technological leadership, economic security and industrial resilience. STRIDE Ventures enables NSF to experiment with new models of innovation funding — connecting researchers and entrepreneurs to urgent national challenges and accelerating the path from discovery to deployment.
NSF TIP is experimenting with bold, responsible methods to rapidly fund U.S. innovation. The STRIDE Ventures initiative accelerates the time from proposal deadline to decision. Following a rigorous review process, TIP selected the Start2 Group to operate STRIDE Ventures, which will develop, publicize and run multiple challenges that allow qualified teams to compete for funding to solve challenges in critical and emerging technologies. For each challenge, a jury comprised of industry, government and academic subject-matter experts reviews the submitted projects and informs the selection process. Winners are selected soon after.
Updates
NSF-supported STRIDE Ventures launches AI Efficiency Challenge to invest up to $21 million over two years to accelerate deployment-ready innovations to strengthen U.S. AI infrastructure
May 18, 2026
NSF announces winners of the U.S. critical minerals challenge to secure key domestic supply chain
March 24, 2026
NSF kicks off U.S. critical minerals challenge to propel innovative critical mineral technology translation
December 8, 2025
The AI Efficiency Challenge
The AI Efficiency Challenge is the second funding opportunity under STRIDE Ventures. STRIDE Ventures launched the challenge in May 2026 to invest up to $13 million to accelerate deployment-ready innovations to strengthen U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure. The challenge aims to strengthen the effective capacity and competitiveness of U.S.-based AI companies by reducing the cost of training and inference, addressing near-term limitations on data center capacity, and accelerating the time to market of new models. This challenge is built on the central premise that researchers have already developed technologies capable of delivering substantial efficiency gains across AI/machine learning (AI/ML) workloads. What's missing is a structured pathway to bring these solutions into real operational environments fast. The program will create a structured environment for collaboration among researchers, technology developers and organizations running large-scale AI/ML workloads, with the goal of awarded teams achieving preliminary deployments at scale within one year of receiving funding.
The AI Efficiency Challenge invites proposals that accelerate the commercial adoption of translation-ready solutions to dramatically improve the efficiency of at-scale AI/ML systems and data centers. The challenge will prioritize translation-ready, primarily software-based solutions that deliver efficiency improvements across the AI/ML pipeline. Funding will be offered at two levels of up to $3.5 million and up to $1.75 million per project. Awards will emphasize rapid team mobilization and close collaboration with deployment partners, and progress will be evaluated through a go/no-go framework directing continued resources to projects demonstrating measurable impact. Applications are due July 13, 2026.
For more information about this challenge, please visit the AI Efficiency Challenge webpage.
The Tech Metal Transformation Challenge
In March 2026, NSF announced eight winners of the Tech Metal Transformation Challenge launched by STRIDE Ventures in November 2025. Winning teams will receive up to $2 million in the first 10-month stage to conduct research and development on their solutions for end-to-end prototype systems that can extract, convert and return metals from complex domestic waste streams into high-performance materials for advanced manufacturing. For more information on the winners of the challenge, read the announcement from STRIDE Ventures.
The Tech Metal Transformation Challenge is the first funding opportunity under STRIDE Ventures. The challenge seeks to strengthen the U.S. supply chain for critical and strategic metals by developing breakthrough technologies. These metals form the backbone of modern industry, powering energy systems, defense technologies, advanced manufacturing and the digital economy. Yet access to many of these essential materials remains highly concentrated in a few producing regions, leaving domestic industries vulnerable to geopolitical and logistical disruptions. The Tech Metal Transformation Challenge calls for bold, interdisciplinary innovation that integrates biological, chemical and physical-mechanical processes to close this gap. By developing processes that can transform secondary and unconventional sources into functional metals, the challenge aims to open an innovation-driven model for domestic materials security and build a resilient foundation for future industries.
The multiyear, three-stage program was co-designed with and running parallel to Germany's SPRIND Tech Metal Transformation Challenge. Supported by tiered funding and expert guidance, these programs will advance breakthrough innovations from research and development to market validation, scale-up and deployment.
IBM and Aurubis provided donated ewaste that will serve as reference material during the initial stage of the challenge, enabling teams to test and validate their approaches using real-world feedstocks. This work will be conducted in collaboration with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, whose engagement will bolster the technical rigor and national security relevance of the effort.
To learn more, visit the STRIDE Ventures website or email TechMetal@nsf.gov.
To learn more, visit the STRIDE Ventures website or email TechMetal@nsf.gov.