Clark Street's 100% DOE Win Signals New Blueprint for Hard Tech Funding

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – April 22, 2026 – In a period of heightened scrutiny over federal spending, advisory firm Clark Street Associates has achieved a remarkable 100% success rate for its clients in a recent U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) review of Biden-era grants. The outcome unblocks more than $606 million in funding for six hard tech projects, providing long-awaited clarity for companies in advanced manufacturing and energy.

The firm's perfect record stands in stark contrast to the broader results of the DOE's review, which saw a significant narrowing of approved projects. This success highlights a potential new blueprint for securing government capital, one that prioritizes commercial viability and execution over traditional policy lobbying.

A Filter for Viability: The DOE's Sharpened Focus

The DOE's recent review was a critical stress test for projects funded under landmark legislation like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). While the department ultimately cleared the majority of the 2,271 grants under review to move forward, the picture for the newest and most ambitious programs was far more stringent. According to federal data, only 40 IRA and 334 IIJA grants survived this rigorous evaluation process, indicating a substantial culling of initiatives.

This winnowing process follows a period of significant uncertainty in the federal funding landscape. An Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memo had previously paused many federal grants and loans, and government agencies have faced challenges in managing the massive influx of funds. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), for instance, has flagged staffing shortages at key DOE offices like the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), which is tasked with managing billions in IIJA and IRA funding.

Against this backdrop of delays, cancellations, and intense oversight, Clark Street’s results are particularly noteworthy. Its client projects that advanced include five of the 15 total Advanced Energy Manufacturing awards that survived the review, accounting for 33% of the projects and 35% of the funding in that competitive category. Furthermore, one of its clients secured the second-largest IIJA grant issued by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The Commercial-First Blueprint for Government Capital

Clark Street Associates attributes its success to a model that diverges sharply from conventional grant advisory or lobbying. The firm embeds its team—comprised of business development, technology, and investment banking professionals—directly with client management. The core of their strategy is to ground every government funding opportunity in commercial reality from the outset.

This approach involves a deep-dive assessment of a client’s manufacturing constraints, capital needs, customer demand, and long-term growth strategy. The firm then identifies where a company's commercial objectives and the government's strategic priorities genuinely overlap, rather than attempting to retrofit a business plan to match a policy announcement.

“Too often, companies are told to treat government as a separate workstream, disconnected from how they build, finance and scale their businesses,” said Stephen Empedocles, CEO of Clark Street Associates, in a statement. “What this DOE outcome shows is that the projects most likely to move forward are not just aligned with a policy priority, they are backed by companies with a credible path to scale.”

The DOE review process appeared to validate this philosophy. According to Empedocles, the evaluation placed a premium on “execution, durability and strategic relevance.” The fact that all of the firm’s clients passed this filter suggests that their projects were not only well-aligned with policy but also demonstrated a robust and believable plan for success in the marketplace.

Redefining Influence from Washington to the Factory Floor

The firm's growing stature was also recognized on a different front. Clark Street was recently included in Bloomberg Government’s prestigious Annual Top Lobbying Firms Report, which tracks the key players shaping the federal advocacy landscape. While the firm’s work extends beyond traditional lobbying, the inclusion reflects its increasing influence in a complex arena defined by intricate policy, fierce commercial competition, and the need for disciplined execution.

The Bloomberg Government report, which analyzes Lobbying Disclosure Act filings from hundreds of firms, highlights trends in a federal advocacy market that reached approximately $5.3 billion in 2025. “Clark Street Associates is included in Bloomberg Government’s Annual Top Lobbying Firms Report, which highlights the firms and trends shaping today’s lobbying landscape,” said Cesca Antonelli, editor in chief of Bloomberg Industry Group. “This year’s analysis reflects the scale and complexity of activity across the industry as evolving policy priorities continue to drive engagement in Washington.”

This recognition suggests a broader shift in what it means to have influence in Washington. For companies in capital-intensive sectors, success is no longer just about securing a meeting or advocating for a policy change. It’s about building a comprehensive business case that bridges the gap between the boardroom and the Beltway, demonstrating how a private-sector project can help achieve a national strategic goal. This integrated approach is proving essential for navigating complex funding mechanisms like the CHIPS and Science Act, where Clark Street has also advised on two of the first eight awards.

Fueling the Future of 'Hard Tech' Innovation

The companies Clark Street serves operate in what is known as 'hard tech'—a category encompassing sectors critical to U.S. economic and national security. These include semiconductors, critical minerals, advanced energy, defense, aerospace, robotics, and artificial intelligence. These industries are characterized by deep engineering challenges, long development timelines, and massive capital requirements, making non-dilutive federal funding a powerful and often necessary catalyst for growth.

Federal priorities have squarely focused on these areas, with the IIJA and IRA directing hundreds of billions of dollars toward rebuilding domestic supply chains, accelerating the clean energy transition, and ensuring technological leadership. By successfully guiding its clients through the federal gauntlet, Clark Street is acting as a key intermediary in channeling public funds toward private innovation in these vital sectors.

The firm's recent success in the DOE review serves as a powerful signal to the entire hard tech ecosystem: the federal government, acting increasingly like a strategic investor, is placing its bets on projects that are not only ambitious but also commercially sound and ready to execute.