Spotlight: EDA’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Advancing American Business through the Regional Innovation Strategies Program

EDA’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE) leads the Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) Program that builds regional capacity by translating innovations into jobs through proof-of-concept and commercialization assistance for innovators and entrepreneurs, and through operational support for organizations that provide essential early-stage risk capital to innovators and entrepreneurs.

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There are two funding opportunities through the RIS program. The i6 Challenge supports the creation of centers for innovation and entrepreneurship that increase the rate at which innovations, ideas, intellectual property, and research are translated into products, services, viable companies, and jobs. The second is the Seed Fund Support (SFS) Program, which provides funding for technical assistance and operational support to create, launch, or expand equity-based, cluster-focused seed funds that invest risk capital into high-growth potential startups. SFS awardees are working to grow new venture funds, support the expansion of angel investor networks, and even educate new investors what it takes to invest in high-tech, high-growth startups.

On December 4, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced that 40 organizations — including nonprofits, institutions of higher education, and entrepreneurship-focused organizations from 28 states and two territories states received $21 million to create and expand cluster-focused proof-of-concept and commercialization programs, and early-stage seed fund support under the 2018 RIS program competition. Read the announcement on the EDA press page.

In addition, The Secretary announced that EDA will open the 2019 RIS competition on February 1st, 2019, when the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is scheduled to be published on grants.gov. Prospective applicants can find more information, including information on eligibility and how they will be able to apply, on EDA’s RIS webpage.

Since RIS was created in 2014, projects awarded through the i6 Challenge have achieved broad distribution across the country. These projects provide a variety of programs and services to promote access to risk capital, innovation, entrepreneurship, regional economic development, and aim to convert research into new products, services and businesses.

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As of March 2018, i6 Challenge awardees have supported over 4,000 entrepreneurs and startups in 37 U.S. states and territories. In addition, over 7,000 American jobs have been created and retained, with 1,661 products launched and 545 patents held. $684.2 million in private investment has been raised because of these projects. i6 Challenge grantees are supporting an exciting variety of technology clusters from agriculture technology, to hardware and advanced manufacturing, to healthcare technology. The flexibility of this program is an important asset to communities, allowing them to tailor their innovation- and entrepreneurship-based economic development strategies to address their unique needs and assets.

While the i6 Challenge works to support the programs and resources entrepreneurs need to learn, build and grow, the SFS program works to increase access to the critical capital they need to scale. The SFS accomplishes this by funding the operational costs for new venture funds, angel networks, and other activities like investor education and engagement, that leads to increase venture deals.

Between 2014 and 2018, $9.9 million in SFS grants were awarded, resulting in: 91 million in new local venture funds, $18.9 million in new company investments, the financial support for 158 companies, and 1,042 new jobs.

You can learn more about the RIS Program by reviewing prior years’ funding opportunities, lists of awardees and their project summaries, and related materials by visiting OIE’s page on the EDA website.