Role Description:

This spring semester marks the launch of the Planetary Solutions Impact Accelerator (PSIA), part of Yale Planetary Solutions (YPS) and powered by Yale Ventures. The goal of PSIA is to provide Yale faculty innovators with the support needed to move their discoveries from the lab into society. Through milestone-based funding of up to $250,000, the accelerator harnesses Yale’s strengths to translate bold ideas into scalable innovations with lasting planetary impacts. 

PSIA is recruiting a select number of students to provide commercialization support to the faculty PIs applying for funding. Students will be matched with dedicated faculty PIs with whom they will collaborate throughout the spring semester. This catalyzing support will be wide-ranging and specific to each faculty project, with the goal of refining proposals for PSIA funding and ultimately helping prepare emerging technologies for market.

While this particular role is focused on the PSIA grant cycle, there are no restrictions on students continuing to work with PIs beyond the academic year should projects gain momentum and there be a mutual fit. In fact, the hope is that Fellows contribute to a pipeline of operators moving climate innovation from Yale’s labs into the world.

Commercial support may include:

• Building and refining pre-seed pitch decks
• Leading market sizing and competitive analysis
• Identifying potential go-to-market strategies
• Mapping out key commercial milestones and associated fundraising strategies (i.e., potential non-dilutive and dilutive sources of capital)
• Conducting customer discovery, including participating in the NSF I-Corps program run by Yale Ventures alongside the PI
• Exploring potential external partnerships with industry and other strategic interests
• Researching potential policy, regulatory, and legal hurdles and their implications
• Meeting with climate tech experts in residence (EIRs) to understand landscapes, prioritize workstreams, and shape investable ventures
• Helping PIs prepare proposals and other materials for the PSIA process

All work will be done in close collaboration with PIs, with oversight from the PSIA team and strategic input from EIRs.

Responsibilities:

• Ramp up quickly on early stage technologies to determine their commercial potential
• Identify, prioritize, and execute independent workstreams, with the end goal of building the commercial case for projects
• Meet regularly with PI to coordinate efforts and collaborate on shared workstreams
• Coordinate with PI to prepare materials for PSIA deadlines
• Check in periodically with the PSIA team to share updates and identify areas of additional support needs