Go Make 2027: Advanced Carbon Materials with ExxonMobil

Greentown Labs is seeking applications from startups (TRL 3–7) developing novel carbon-based technologies. We are looking for material, property, or performance innovations that demonstrate clear pathways to industrial-scale deployment and commercialization. In conjunction with ExxonMobil, the Go Make 2027: Advanced Carbon Materials program aims to accelerate collaboration between innovative founders and ExxonMobil, leveraging carbon’s unique properties to deliver durable, high-performance, and scalable solutions aligned with the company’s energy, industrial, and materials businesses.

• A structured startup accelerator platform designed to facilitate validation activities and explore potential long-term collaborations with ExxonMobil

• Exclusive access to the Greentown Labs and ExxonMobil networks

• Mentorship, networking opportunities, and collaboration-focused programming from the Greentown Labs community of climatetech startup experts

• Desk space within Greentown Labs and access to community programming and events for the duration of the program

• A needs-based stipend for each selected startup to support their participation in the accelerator

Carbon Materials (Improved Properties & Enhanced Performance): This includes startups developing, engineering, or optimizing carbon materials and formulations, along with enabling technologies that enhance the performance or manufacturing of these materials for enhanced performance in real-world applications (e.g. industrial/manufacturing conditions).

Materials of interest include:

• Graphitizable and graphitic carbons (e.g., graphite, pitch-based carbons)

• Non-graphitic carbons (e.g., hard carbon, amorphous carbon, carbon black, activated carbon)

• Carbon nanomaterials and related products (carbon nanotubes, CNT-based materials, Graphene, other nanostructures)

• High-sp³ carbons (e.g., diamond, diamond-like coatings, diamond nanothreads)

• Fullerene-based and emerging carbon architectures

Relevant properties and performance characteristics include:

• Mechanical performance (e.g., stiffness, strength, toughness, durability)

• Electrochemical performance (e.g., charge rate, cycle life)

• Thermal performance (e.g., heat resistance, thermal conductivity, refractory behavior)

• Chemical and environmental stability (e.g., corrosion resistance, performance in harsh environments)

• Electrical and optoelectronic performance (e.g., conductivity, light absorption)

• Physicochemical characteristics (e.g., porosity, surface area, density, filtration and separation performance)

This area includes both novel material development and performance-driven improvements through processing, formulation, composites, coatings, or system integration/application development.

Target End Markets & Applications Include:

• Energy storage and batteries (e.g., electrodes, anodes, conductive additives)

• Energy and industrial systems, including oil & gas, refining, chemicals, and process industries

• Power transmission, wire, and cable

• Transportation and aerospace (e.g., lightweight and high-performance composites)

• Buildings, construction, and infrastructure (e.g., structural materials, insulation, shielding)

• Industrial filtration, separation, and thermal management

End markets are not exhaustive, and selected startups are expected to demonstrate a credible pathway to scale, manufacturability, and commercial adoption within one or more of these sectors.

Through Go Make 2027: Advanced Carbon Materials, ExxonMobil will work towards collaboration outcomes with startups including:

• Submit your completed application through the online portal by October 9, 2027

• Be available for virtual and/or in-person interviews after the application deadline, if selected for further rounds

• Disclose the status of any intellectual property (IP) relevant to your submission. Do not submit confidential information in the application process. Participants will enter into non-disclosure agreements in order to protect their intellectual property throughout Go Make 2027: Advanced Carbon Materials

• Applicants may apply from anywhere in the world; however, executive or founder-level attendance at five events (one virtual and four in person at Greentown Labs Somerville and/or Greentown Labs Houston) is mandatory for participation in this program

• A tentative program timeline is as follows:

◦ Kickoff Workshop: January 13, 2027

◦ Workshop 1: February 24 – 25, 2027

◦ Workshop 2: March 31 – April 1, 2027 (Virtual)

◦ Workshop 3: May 12 – 13, 2027

◦ Final Workshop: June 16, 2027

Greentown is committed to increasing diversity, maintaining an inclusive community culture, and creating a more sustainable planet for all. We welcome applications from founders and teams of all backgrounds, regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or whether or not they have a disability.

Greentown Labs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit accelerating climatetech innovation for the planet, people, and prosperity. As the world’s largest climatetech and energy startup incubator, Greentown catalyzes ecosystems to provide entrepreneurs mission-critical access to labs, equipment, customers, capital, talent, community, and resources for business and leadership growth. Greentown is home to more than 250 startups and has supported more than 675 since its founding in 2011; these startups, with a survival rate of 88 percent, have collectively created more than 16,600 jobs and raised more than $12.5B in funding. For more information, visit www.greentownlabs.com or follow Greentown on LinkedIn.

Greentown Labs’ Greentown Go programs inject momentum and traction into startup-corporate collaborations to decarbonize the global economy, unlocking the power of climate solutions at scale. These open-innovation programs operate along five tracks, corresponding to the five major greenhouse gas-emitting sectors: Go Build (buildings), Go Energize (energy and electricity), Go Grow (food and agriculture), Go Make (manufacturing), and Go Move (transportation). Each track leverages the same proven Greentown Go framework that has delivered dozens of partnership outcomes to date, including pilots, licensing agreements, investments, joint development agreements, and more.

ExxonMobil, one of the largest publicly traded international energy and petrochemical companies, creates solutions that improve quality of life and meet society’s evolving needs.

The corporation’s primary businesses - Upstream, Product Solutions and Low Carbon Solutions – provide products that enable modern life, including energy, chemicals, lubricants, and lower emissions technologies. ExxonMobil holds an industry-leading portfolio of resources, and is one of the largest integrated fuels, lubricants, and chemical companies in the world. ExxonMobil also owns and operates the largest CO2 pipeline network in the United States. In 2021, ExxonMobil announced Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emission-reduction plans for 2030 for operated assets, compared to 2016 levels. The plans are to achieve a 20-30% reduction in corporate-wide greenhouse gas intensity; a 40-50% reduction in greenhouse gas intensity of upstream operations; a 70-80% reduction in corporate-wide methane intensity; and a 60-70% reduction in corporate-wide flaring intensity. To learn more, visit exxonmobil.com and ExxonMobil’s Advancing Climate Solutions.

Michela Grunebaum, Senior Director of New Ecosystems, mgrunebaum@greentownlabs.com

Erin Silver Wheeler, Director of Startup Programs, esilverwheeler@greentownlabs.com