Grant

March 30-April 3, 2015

$895,000 in Public Works funds to the Treasure Coast Research, Education, and Development Authority, Fort Pierce, Florida, to construct the Center for AgriLife Research and Entrepreneurship (CARE) Incubator Project in the Treasure Coast Research Park. The new incubator, known as the Sunshine Kitchen Food Business Incubator, will include a shared-use commercial kitchen, which will be a working laboratory for food entrepreneurs as they develop new products, processes, packaging, and product promotions. The project will grow many agricultural businesses by providing necessary research, education, and resources. This investment is part of a $1,791,735 project that the grantee estimates will create 266 jobs and leverage $6.6 million in private investment.
$500,000 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, to create the Southern Tier Innovation Hot Spot (STIHS), a collaboration among Binghamton University, Cornell University, Corning Inc., and the Ceramics Corridor Innovation Center, that will develop a Hardware Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (HEE) in the Southern Tier region of New York State. The project combines the region’s strengths in engineering, materials science, and manufacturing with cutting-edge business incubation, acceleration and entrepreneurship theory and practice to accelerate the development of product-oriented startups and grow the region’s economy and employment. This investment is part of a $1,379,297 project.
$500,000 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to BioStl, St. Louis, Missouri, to increase the capacity of the St. Louis Bioscience Regional Proof of Concept Center. This project will provide additional technical assistance for its current portfolio of proof of concept projects and companies and will increase the number of trained entrepreneurs who will create the technology business of tomorrow. By expanding its proof of concept program known as the Technology Advancement Program (TAP), the program will continue to address various gaps in the commercialization continuum. This investment is part of a $1,227,826 project.
$500,000 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to the New Orleans BioInnovation Center, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana, to support the New Orleans BioInnovation Center’s (NOBIC) efforts to scale a proven and innovative Life Science Technology Commercialization assistance program from serving entrepreneurs in the New Orleans area to a statewide effort. By making NOBIC a regional life science research commercialization hub, this program will support the creation of high-growth life science entrepreneurial ventures that will contribute to regional economic growth. This investment is part of a $1,225,745 project.
$500,000 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to the Pennsylvania State University, State College/Centre, Pennsylvania, to create TechCelerator, a pre-accelerator designed for early-stage tech-based start-ups which provides an array of pre-launch business and market research services designed to assist entrepreneurs in converting business ideas into reality. The project will enhance the support system by focusing services and programs to support TechCelerator efforts and to develop a strong, vibrant entrepreneurial culture that will create a large, sustainable pipeline of startup activity in Centre County and the surrounding region. This investment is part of a $1,216,584 project.
$500,000 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to the Curators of the University of Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, to continue support for early-stage proof-of-concept projects at Digital Sandbox KC. The project expands the program to create a community-wide network of product development and testing resources, essentially turning the entire community into a regional market research and testing environment. This clearinghouse will encompass prototype equipment and resources available through higher education, corporate, government and nonprofit channels. This investment is part of a $1.15 million project.
$500,000 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, to support the expansion of the FirstWaVE Venture Center in Tampa a program that has been highly successful in connecting high-growth startups with mentorship, early stage capital and other resources to foster a culture of innovation throughout the region. The project seeks to increase the overall number of startups and accelerate the commercialization of inventions and ideas by providing more specialization and better resources for specific industries and demographics, such as the IT, education, hospitality, call centers, and manufacturing industries, as well as for women-led and veteran-led high-growth companies. This investment is part of a $1,068,550 project.
$500,000 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to the Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta, Georgia, to transfer the experience of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute (EI2) in developing university-fostered startup ecosystems to two university communities located in the downtown area of Atlanta: Georgia State University and the four private, historically black colleges and university (HBCU) members of the Atlanta University Center (Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Morehouse College and the Morehouse School of Medicine). In collaboration with Startup Atlanta, a non-profit convener of startup activity in the broader Atlanta region, EI2 will support an exchange of our best practices focused on the development of student startup curriculum and clubs, faculty commercialization programs, accelerators, and incubators. This investment is part of a $1,017,787 project.
$500,000 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, to extend the UCF I-Corps pilot program to help transition Central Florida’s engineering workforce into high growth technology companies that design, manufacture and export innovative products. This Center will also leverage both the statewide Florida Cleantech Accelerator Network and the forthcoming Osceola County Advanced Materials Research Center. This investment is part of a $1,000,173 project.
$611,000 in Economic Adjustment Assistance funds to the Innovation Accelerator Foundation, Inc., Rochester, New York, to provide technical assistance to support development of the Innovation, Manufacturing, and Material Science Institute accelerator in the Eastman Business Park in Rochester. The project will facilitate the reuse of significant research and development resources and provide technology entrepreneurs with a more efficient and economical pathway to develop their businesses, thereby creating a more robust and sustained regional economy. This investment is part of a $1.222 million project.
$499,959 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana, to build the I-20 Corridor Maker Space Innovation Network . The project integrates interdisciplinary maker-spaces, entrepreneurship, and business development across the region to enhance new product development that will lead to new job creation and economic growth. This investment is part of a $1,385,078 project.
$499,826 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to create Technology Commercialization Carolina, a program designed to convert university research and development into commercially viable enterprises. The multi-institution technology commercialization center will provide commercialization and entrepreneurship training, early stage venture launch support, incubation, and funding to a diverse set of inventors and innovators throughout North Carolina. This investment is part of a $1,130,298 project.
$499,822 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, Baltimore, Maryland, to establish the mdSTEPP Virtual Commercialization Center. By leveraging the innovations in medical devices emerging from the Central Maryland/Baltimore/Washington Metropolitan region's prominent medical and engineering schools including the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, and the region's significant entrepreneurial support infrastructure, the program seeks to significantly increase the number of successful medical device companies in Maryland. This investment is part of a $999,644 project.
$499,064 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Alaska, to establish the Alaska Center for Microgrid Technologies Commercialization. The Center will provide the technical and business assistance required to accelerate commercialization and implementation of the technologies needed to improve the affordability and reliability of microgrid energy systems, an industry of particular importance in remote or isolated regions characterized by high energy costs, such as those in Alaska and developing regions of the world. This investment is part of a $998,520 project.
$499,010 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to BioAccel, Phoeniz, Arizona, to support the expansion of the Southwest Proof of Concept Commercialization Center (BioAccel). The project will enhance the partnership between the biomedical engineering programs at Arizona State University and the University of California at Irvine in order to provide additional technical assistance for its current portfolio of proof of concept projects and companies and to increase the number of trained entrepreneurs who will create the technology business of tomorrow. This investment is part of a $919,463 project.
$474,453 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to the City and County of San Francisco, California, to expand San Francisco’s current entrepreneurship-in-residence program, Startup in Residence (STIR), from a one-city model to a regional, multi-city program. The STIR program aims to create a replicable and scalable model to build regional networks of city governments that accelerate the commercialization of cutting edge innovations in technology services to the public sector and expand entrepreneurial and investment opportunities and government collaboration in the participating regions. This investment is part of a $959,730.95 project.
$449,950 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to the Ohio Energy and Advanced Manufacturing Center, Inc., Lima, Ohio, to establish the Center for High Strain Rate Forming Commercialization in Lima. By linking metal forming manufacturers with university researchers, government economic development entities, and supply chain vendors, the Center will leverage existing resources, collaborate, and co-invest to nurture manufacturing innovation among all sizes of manufacturers to accelerate commercialization and innovative adaptation. This investment is part of a $1,022,404 project.
$399,585 in funds from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s i6 Challenge competition to the Albany Medical College, New York, to support development of a best of class commercialization model for New York’s Capital Region through the newly established Biomedical Acceleration & Commercialization Center (BACC). Led by Albany Medical College, the project seeks to build an entrepreneurial culture, improve the processes by which ideas become products and companies, and provide critical technology transfer resources to companies, investors, and entrepreneurs. This investment is part of a $919,463 project.
$250,000 from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s Cluster Grants for Seed Capital Funds competition to the Clean Energy Trust, Chicago, Illinois, to support the Clean Energy Trust (CET), a non-profit clean energy accelerator that serves nine Midwestern states to source breakthrough technologies that can be turned into high-growth startup companies. CET aims to create a healthier and more sustainable environment and a more prosperous economy. CET has established a Clean Energy Prize Fund that strives to foster innovation and promote economic growth by providing much needed early-stage seed capital to these startups in order to traverse the commercialization "valley of death." This investment is part of a $650,000 project.
$250,000 from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s Cluster Grants for Seed Capital Funds competition to Quatere, Salt Lake City, Utah, to support Quatere’s efforts to create and implement an innovative, next generation early stage umbrella fund in the Intermountain region and beyond. The fund will inject much needed sustainable funding options for early stage and startup companies and is expected to result in new job creation and increased availability of capital and technical assistance to early stage companies in the region. This investment is part of a $628,800 project.
$250,000 from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s Cluster Grants for Seed Capital Funds competition to Technology 2020, Knoxville, Tennessee, to assist in the launch of the TennesSeed Proof of Concept Fund. TennesSeed will accelerate the formation and funding of new companies in Tennessee by de-risking very young, promising companies through investments that validate technology, products and services, and market potential. These proof-of-concept investments will increase the flow of vetted investment opportunities for investors that finance companies beyond the pre-seed or seed stage and will increase the attractiveness of those opportunities, thereby increasing the rate of high quality job creation. This investment is part of a $500,000 project.
$250,000 from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s Cluster Grants for Seed Capital Funds competition to the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, to support the University of North Dakota Center for Innovation’s efforts to facilitate venture growth in portfolio companies. The project will strengthen the network of nine angel funds that have been established in eastern North Dakota, increasing the contact with individuals in the central and western areas of the state who have expressed interest in investing, laying the groundwork for launching new angel and seed funds that will extend the angel fund network statewide. This investment is part of a $500,000 project.
$248,946 from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s Cluster Grants for Seed Capital Funds competition to the Regional Development Corporation, Espanola, New Mexico, to improve the performance and impact of Regional Development Corporation’s existing seed fund by providing technical assistance to existing portfolio companies and by better connecting the ecosystem’s stakeholders. The project will develop a feasibility study for a larger regional seed capital fund to be able to provide seed capital for early-stage companies, especially those focused on science- and technology-based products and services. This investment is part of a $516,076 project.
$249,933 from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s Cluster Grants for Seed Capital Funds competition to the University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, to raise, deploy and manage the $5 million evergreen StarterCorps Seed Fund that will be deployed in innovative technology and advanced manufacturing startups in Central Florida. Specifically, StarterCorps will provide the most promising new ventures with access to incremental rounds of seed funding that will be critical in maturing these "starter" teams into companies that are attractive to angel groups, early-stage venture capitalists and federal SBIR agencies. This investment is part of a $516,933 project.
$221,467 from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s Cluster Grants for Seed Capital Funds competition to the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Phoenix, Arizona, to fund a feasibility study to assist in establishing a seed capital fund to serve the Greater Phoenix region. The fund would support early-stage companies in advanced manufacturing and related industries, and connect entrepreneurs with existing capacity and resources within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. By leveraging the expertise of the core team members and other stakeholders, the fund will help startups advance quickly into the next phase of growth and value. This investment is part of a $515,203 project.
$148,600 from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s Cluster Grants for Seed Capital Funds competition to the Montana Economic revitalization and Development Institute, Butte, Montana, to strengthen the Mansfield Center’s ability to support fledgling manufacturers with prototype development, proof-of-concept assistance, business mentoring, and product commercialization assistance. The Mansfield Center incorporates a mixed-use business incubator and a machine shop makerspace focused on assisting high-growth entrepreneurial manufacturers in taking their operations to the next level. This investment is part of a $297,200 project.
$124,910 from the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program’s Cluster Grants for Seed Capital Funds competition to the Albany Medical College, Albany, New York, to design a seed capital investment infrastructure needed to create the Bio Innovation Seed Fund. Once established, the fund will provide increased opportunities for proof of concept, product demonstration, and prototypes for early stage projects and products being developed by physicians, engineers, and entrepreneurs in the New York Capital region. This early stage assistance will encourage private investment leveraging of federal, state, and regional economic development funding and initiatives and support innovation and entrepreneurship. This investment is part of a $258,531 project.