UI, IBM announce $200 million Discovery Accelerator Institute

IBM and the state of Illinois are partnering with the University of Illinois to invest $200 million over 10 years in a new Discovery Accelerator Institute. The Grainger College of Engineering hopes to launch the new institute this fall, Dean Rashid Bashir said. “We look forward to working with them to develop this new model of […]

Boeing partners with Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, commits $50 million

$50 million, multiyear commitment from Boeing will help jump-start Virginia Tech’s effort to create the most diverse graduate technology campus in the United States, the university announced Tuesday morning. Boeing’s commitment will provide student scholarships, foster the recruitment of world-class faculty and researchers, and fund STEM pathway programs for underserved K-12 students looking to pursue […]

CVS Health Launches $100 Million Venture Fund

CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) today announced the launch of CVS Health Ventures, a dedicated corporate venture capital fund that will invest in and partner with high-potential, early-stage companies focused on making health care more accessible, affordable, and simpler. “Consumers deserve a better health experience, one that puts them at the center of cutting-edge, digitally enabled solutions,” […]

Amazon donates funds to Nashville Entrepreneur Center 

Nashville’s record-setting economic development recruit is helping fund a series of programs at the city’s Entrepreneur Center. Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq: AMZN) is now a formal “supporting partner” of the 11-year-old nonprofit organization, which announced the contribution on March 31. Amazon’s funding will support five existing programs at the EC: PreFlight, which is for first-time entrepreneurs […]

Chevron’s Houston-based venture arm launches $300M fund focusing on low-carbon tech 

Chevron Corp.’s investment arm has launched a $300 million fund that will focus on low-carbon technology. Chevron Technology Ventures LLC’s Future Energy Fund II builds on the success of the first Future Energy Fund, which kicked off in 2018 and invested in more than 10 companies specializing in niches like carbon capture, emerging mobility, and […]

Could shift to private R&D investment may curtail innovation – Axios

A new study makes the case that as funding for university research shifts from government to private firms, entrepreneurship suffers. Why it matters: The share of research funding to universities from the federal government has declined as private companies make up a bigger proportion of R&D spending. Far from encouraging the development of new companies, the shift may […]

Deere adds new companies to its 2021 Startup Collaborator program

Moline-based Deere & Company announced today the companies that will be part of the 2021 cohort of the Startup Collaborator program. This program was launched in 2019 to enhance and deepen its interaction with startup companies whose technology could add value for John Deere customers. “The startup collaborator program continues to build tremendous interactions between […]

Pilots over pitches: how to accelerate growth through corporate-startup collaboration

“Always be pitching” has been the startup mantra for years, and for good reason. Pitching helps improve and validate ideas, understand customers, and accelerate learning on a consistent basis, so your company can build the right product. But over-investing in pitches has a dark side. The obsession with the perfect pitch has led to countless […]

Washington State University Health Sciences Launches Life Sciences Incubator, sp3nw, Supported by $250,000 Grant From Bank of America

The FINANCIAL — sp3nw to Accelerate WSU Life Science Innovation and Entrepreneurship Into Biotech, Pharma, Diagnostics, and Medical Device Companies Through Faculty, Affiliate Expertise. Washington State University (WSU) Health Sciences today announced the launch of Spinout Space in Spokane (sp³nw), a new life sciences incubator that will launch start-up companies. As part of this launch, the […]