LANSING, Mich (WLNS) – Two innovative projects at Michigan State University have a green light today to continue their groundbreaking work.
The Michigan Strategic Fund Board today approved a two-year extension and refunding of $500,000 for the University Early State Proof of Concept Fund-ADVANCE program.
That program supports the current gap in the pipeline of moving university projects, with the commercial potential of a discovery, into the commercial market.
Such technology is at a very early stage of development and requires additional studies or a working prototype before it can be shown to have commercial potential.
The University Early State Proof of Concept Fund provides support for university projects to help the transition from research stages to the commercial market.
The second program that received a two-year time extension and a $1.1 million cash infusion was the Michigan State University MTRAC Ag Bio Innovation Hub.
That program focuses on commercializing technologies including the development of research related to bio-derived/bio-based materials, natural resources and animal health.
Within the past two years the program reviewed 51 proposals and supported 31 projects from Michigan State University, University of Michigan and Michigan Technological University.
It distributed over $1 million in funding for projects in the past two years.
In that same time the innovation hub has reported 2 startups, 2 jobs, 6 licenses and 4 options, 24 patents applied and 19 issued patents and over $10 M in follow on funding.
