Government of Canada announces new innovation money

TORONTO, ONTARIO, May 22, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Canadian companies specializing in everything from natural resources to information technology are turning to researchers at local colleges to grow their businesses and create high-quality jobs, because R&D and innovation happen at all levels-from the academic labs all the way to the shop floor.

U Colorado/State of Colorado matching fund supports seven bioscience companies

The University of Colorado has just funded seven bioscience (five recent, two in fall of 2011) surrounding promising bioscience-based start-ups. Funding in the form of grants goes is directed toward proof of concept and seed-stage financing. The program is a great example of collaboration between state agencies and research universities that directly leads to economic […]

Update: Axonia closes on $2M in seed funding. Gap funds play a role (Ann Arbor SPARK, Western Michigan University RF, and others)

Axonia Medical, an early stage company pioneering a revolutionary approach to repair and restore damaged peripheral and central nervous systems, announced today that the company has closed on $2.0 million in seed financing. The financing was led by Southwest Michigan First Life Science Venture Fund and included participation from Ann Arbor SPARK and Western Michigan […]

UTexas Entrepreneurial Faculty Member Urges State to Support Start-up Funding

University of Texas professor James McGinity has defied the odds as an academic entrepreneur. In 1996, he and a colleague, Bill Williams, went in hock for $1 million to start a company, PharmaForm LLC, in a small building off Yager Lane. By the time they sold the company in 2007, it had 85 employees and […]

Utah Kickstart raising a second fund

Kickstart Seed Fund, a seed investor based in Salt Lake City, is seeking to raise $20 million for a second fund that will back technology and life science companies in Utah and nearby Rocky Mountain states

Iowa initiative to launch a seed fund

Op Ed by Jack Harris For years as an executive at Rockwell Collins, I worked with state universities and entrepreneurs who were producing research and products that we needed to enhance our product line or create efficiencies. It could be a tedious process, but it was often more cost-effective than attempting to do the same […]

MI pre-seed fund invests in 9 new start-ups

From official press release: ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Nine Michigan companies recently received investments from the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, totaling more than $2 million. To date, the Michigan Pre-Seed Capital Fund, a collaborative effort of Michigan’s SmartZones, has awarded 72 Michigan companies with seed funding totaling more than […]