DICES (Diversity in Cleantech — Early Stage)

DICES, short for Diversity in Cleantech - Early Stage, is MassCEC's equity-focused companion to Catalyst. It supports Massachusetts-based early-stage climatetech companies, nonprofit research institutions, and student-led teams at TRL 2 to 4, with awards of up to $75,000. The program is aimed at applicants who are underrepresented in climatetech or who face economic barriers, and it sits under the same Massachusetts Clean Energy Center umbrella as Catalyst. The mechanics mirror Catalyst closely. Applications go through the MassVentures portal, use the same 11-page limit with appendices, and run on the same annual cycle. DICES can fund up to three awards in a round, which keeps the competition narrow and makes the bar for relevance clear. Finalists receive pitch coaching and business mentoring, so the program is not just a cash award, but a structured early-stage checkpoint. The strongest fit is a team with a clean-energy idea that still needs validation, not a company looking for late-stage scale capital. Because the route is designed for founders who have been left out of the field or who do not have the same financial runway as peer teams, the application should make both the technical case and the access case plainly. A concise, credible plan for lab validation or prototype learning is more important here than a polished commercial story.

Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.