NSF Awards $225,000 to U of Arkansas-Affiliated Technology Company 

The National Science Foundation has awarded $225,000 to start-up company SurfTec LLC to commercialize its patent-pending technology invented at the University of Arkansas. SurfTec, a U of A-affiliated company at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park, will use the grant to investigate the feasibility of a novel approach that significantly improves wear resistance of polytetrafluoroethylene […]

Senators introduce bipartisan bill to support U.S. research and education

The U.S. science community got a big pat on the back today from members of the Senate commerce and science committee. The senators delivered their encouraging message in the form of a bipartisan bill that would reauthorize programs at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and tweak […]

$24.9M New Zealand Start-up fund recipients announced

Start-up fund recipients announced Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today announced the successful recipients of the 2016 PreSeed Accelerator Fund. “This fund supports the commercialisation of publicly funded research technologies to the point where new companies can be formed or the technology licensed or sold to existing businesses,” Mr Joyce says. “The successful applicants […]

Chicago Impact Engine Launches $10M Fund, Betting Capitalists Can Do Well While Doing Good

Some dismiss social impact entrepreneurship as a feel-good diversion. But a group of successful investors in Chicago are throwing $10 million on the table to prove that capitalists can do well while doing good. Impact Engine today announced a $10 million early-stage impact investment fund for companies dedicated to making money and  solving one social […]

Sacramento devotes $10 million to high-tech firms, but plan faces risks

When the City Council approved a $10 million fund for high-tech investments last month, Sacramento joined a handful of municipalities across the country hoping to buy their way into the economy of the future with public money. Philadelphia, Portland, Ore., – and now Sacramento – don’t expect to turn themselves into the next Silicon Valley. […]

Alaska Launches Tech Accelerator Fund

“Diversify the economy” is Alaska’s rallying cry as oil production and prices sink. First of its kind Alaska tech accelerator Launch: Alaska wants to put the idea into action with the hot-ticket item of booming Lower 48 metro areas. The program combines Anchorage municipal goals to draw more diverse businesses into the city with private […]

Chinese Tsinghua to Start R&D Fund, 1,000 Incubators in Innovation Push

Tsinghua Holdings will invest no less than 50 billion yuan ($7.6 billion) in research over five years and set up a fund to help commercialize scientific discoveries, Chairman Xu Jinghong said in an interview. The company, a state-owned enterprise that was founded in 2003 by Chinese president Xi Jinping’s alma mater, Tsinghua University, kicked off two […]

Start Singapore: Fund to provide seed money

A fintech fund called Dymon Asia Ventures has been set up to invest in areas such as asset management, remittances and foreign exchange.The fund will provide seed finance and growth capital for business expansion. Dymon did not disclose its fund size or the potential investment in each start-up. The norm for investment community is to […]

U Oregon tech startup firm plans to grow with $1 million infusion

A Eugene startup that has invented technology used in drug discovery and environmental testing recently raised $1 million in an investment round to help support its growth. NemaMetrix, a spin-out of University of Oregon research, has developed a portable device that can be used to quickly test the effects of drugs or environmental toxins on […]

9 companies join Portland Seed Fund portfolio 

The eighth class of the Portland Seed Fund will take the stage Wednesday afternoon before 100 investors in downtown Portland, completing the latest cycle of the accelerator. This class of companies ranges from health care technology to food to sharing platforms. There are also three startups outside of the fund’s traditional Portland metro. The companies […]