Venture capital firms from California and Illinois are the first recipients of a newly-established U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Entrepreneur in Residence program designed to speed the technology transfer process from three DOE National Laboratories into the global marketplace.

“Our national laboratories are really the backbone and treasure of the Department of Energy,” DOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Andy Karsner said in a press conference today.

Karsner announced Menlo Park, California-based firms Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and Foundation Capital will work with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, respectively. Chicago, Illinois-based ARCH Venture Partners will work with Sandia National Laboratory.

The EIR program involves placing venture capital-sponsored and selected entrepreneurs in three of the DOE’s national laboratories for a year to identify laboratory-developed clean technologies funded by the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and to develop business cases for their commercialization.

As outlined by the DOE, the EIR will conduct technology assessments, evaluate market opportunities, formulate preliminary business cases and propose business structures in an effort to bring cutting-edge technologies to market.

At the end of the year, the firms will have to reapply for consideration. Karsner noted that the process is expected to be rolling, however, as other national laboratories are interested in participating.

“We want more of the entrepreneurs in our laboratories,” Karsner said. “Our laboratories are the epicenter of a global conversation on cleantech proliferation.”

Upon selecting a technology for commercialization, entrepreneurs in residence and their venture capital sponsors would negotiate a license to use the laboratory-developed technology.

Working with their respective entrepreneur, the venture capital sponsors are to form and finance a start-up business based on the licensed technology. The foundation of each start-up’s business plan would be the commercialization of licensed clean energy technologies.

As part of the EIR pilot program, the DOE also introduced the notion of a standard license agreement based on the structure of successful university licenses. Tailored for entrepreneurs and small businesses, this standard template includes a provision that would permit the EIR to offer partial ownership of the start-up company as full or partial payment for the license.

Karsner made the announcement at the Cleantech Forum XVI in San Francisco, California.