From Concept to Demo: Knight Prototype Fund Announces 20 New Projects
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation recently announced funding for 20 new projects through its Knight Prototype Fund, which helps media makers, technologists, and tinkerers alike take ideas from concept to demo. Innovators are given $35,000 grants–and six months–to research, test, and iterate before building out a complete project. Launched in 2012, the […]
Governor rejects Invest Georgia seed funding
Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed 11 bills Tuesday, including long-sought legislation to put seed capital into a state-run venture capital fund.A bill the General Assembly passed on the final day of this year’s legislative session authorized Invest Georgia, a VC fund created two years ago but not funded, to sell up to $55 million in insurance […]
More mutual funds are investing in tech start-ups
Mutual fund giants aren’t just interested in putting money to work in publicly traded companies. Increasingly, they also want to own a piece of red-hot start-ups. Tech news site Re/code reported that Fidelity Investments is now in talks to buy a stake in meal-delivery start-up Blue Apron at a valuation of about $2 billion. But […]
Med tech start-up exits Bank of Ireland Seed Fund with US$21m valuation
Galway med tech company neoSurgical has become the first start-up to exit the 2009 Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Fund after raising US$6m from US investor SAIG. Kernel Capital said that it has commenced the formal divestment of the 2009 Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Fund, which has a portfolio of almost […]
Ohio Capital Fund notches 8.7 percent return on investment since 2006 founding
Ohio’s $150 million state-backed fund for venture-capital investments is showing stronger returns and has attracted more than $1 billion investment to the state, but still is performing below expectations. The Ohio Capital Fund LLC has generated an 8.7 percent annualized return from 2006 through the end of last year, fund managers on Thursday told the […]
Here’s which states are most innovative in America – The Washington Post
What makes a state a champion of innovation? Is it the size of its tech workforce, the speed of its broadband connectivity, its willingness to protect and foster new business models? What is the essential mix of state-level policies and practices that make a state a leader in developing new businesses and fostering a more […]
U.S. Commerce Secretary Announces $10 Million in Grants to Advance Innovation Across America
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker today announced the first 26 recipients of the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies program grants. The Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program, which is being run by the Department’s Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE), is a new initiative designed to advance innovation and capacity-building activities in […]
Drugmakers, UK start $100M venture to fund creation of Alzheimer’s drugs
Major drugmakers, the British government and a top Alzheimer’s research charity are pooling more than $100 million to create a global fund to accelerate efforts to find a treatment or even a cure for the mind-robbing disease within a decade. The new Dementia Discovery Fund will function like a venture capital fund. It will identify […]
AKT IP Ventures Launches Targeted $20 Million Fund to Incubate Emerging IP-Based Tech Companies
AKT IP Ventures today announced the launch of a targeted $20 million incubation investment fund that will finance the creation and operation of IP-based businesses in the mobile, multi-touch, wearables, IoT, big data and medical technology sectors. As an incubator and operator of emerging IP-based businesses, AKT IP Ventures offers a unique, constructive and creative […]
Carnegie Mellon University I-Corps Site Chooses Teams for 2015 Spring Cohort
The Carnegie Mellon University Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Site has announced its 2015 spring cohort of 16 startup companies that are commercializing innovations ranging from online tools for identifying sex traffickers to technologies for bio-printing 3-D tissues for regenerative medicine. The objective of the I-Corps Site is to help students and faculty members hone their entrepreneurial […]