Nanofiber lands $500K from TechColumbus

TechColumbus announced Tuesday it has stepped up its commitment to incubator tenant Nanofiber Solutions LLC with a $500,000 loan that will convert to equity, the largest to date from the current $2 million round of state-backed Pre-Seed Fund investments.

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 […]

Florida Opportunity Seed Fund announces awards

Opportunity Fund awards are intended to support new projects (not supplement current research). Proposals must involve faculty from at least two departments/units/colleges and are limited to $100,000 for the entire project period (two years)

Gap Funding: A critical component of US innovation system

The most critical issue related to crossing the “valley of death” is the availability (or lack thereof) of resources for promising inventions. Perhaps the most significant resource shortage can be found within the University as a basic research breakthrough is disclosed. The best universities are putting specific gap funds and gap programs in place to […]