Last August, the Department of Commerce announced it would be giving out $10 million in funding through its i6 Challenge program and Seed Fund Support Grants. Today, it unveiled the 25 awardees through the two programs — both part of the Economic Development Administration’s Regional Innovation Strategies — designed to advance innovation and capacity-building activities in regions across the United States.
“As the driving force behind the Administration’s focus on entrepreneurship, the Department of Commerce is committed to helping set the conditions for innovators and entrepreneurs to test new ideas, take risks, find financing and customers, and ultimately thrive,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. “The Regional Innovation Strategies program is critical to ensuring that entrepreneurs have access to the tools they need to move their ideas and inventions from idea to market.”
i6 Challenge
The i6 Challenge is a national competition that makes small, targeted, high-impact investments to support startup creation, innovation, and help turn technology into jobs. The funding supports the development and expansion of new and existing Proof-of-Concept and Commercialization Centers, which help innovators fine tune and scale their innovations to bring new products and services to the market.
The total amount of funding for the i6 Challenge under this RIS round is $8 million. Grantees include:
- New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico
$368,760 for Next Gen Entrepreneurship (Next Gen)- Telluride Foundation, Telluride, Colorado
$499,720 for Southwest Innovation Corridor- University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama
$500,000 for UAH Virtual Proof of Concept Center (POCC): The Growth & Acceleration of Products (GAP) Project- University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
$500,000 for Quiet Corner Innovation Cluster (QCIC)- Maine Center for Entrepreneurial Development, Portland, Maine
$390,000 for Top Gun Rural Accelerator Network Expansion- Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, Ohio
$498,282 for Accelerating Pharmaceutical Commercialization: A Rural Proof of Concept Center for Economic Development- University of Wisconsin System, Stevens Point, Wisconsin
$499,965 for a new Proof of Concept Center- Arkansas State University, State University, Arkansas
$500,000 for East Arkansas Regional Innovation System- CareerSource Broward, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
$499,999 for SUN i6 Challenge- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia
$499,751 for CatalyzeVT: Expanding the Innovation Ecosystem in the Roanoke-Blacksburg Region of Virginia- Innovation Alliance, Seattle, Washington
$500,000 for Clean Water Innovation Initiative (CWII)- University of Hawaii System, Honolulu, Hawaii
$500,000 for XLR8UH Hawaii Innovation Ecosystem Development Project- Quatere, Salt Lake City, Utah
$500,000 for Quatere Cohorts Innovation Center Expansion- Oklahoma Innovation Institute, Tulsa, Oklahoma
$351,400 for Tulsa Research Partners Technology Commercialization Concentrator for Tulsa- BioHealth Innovation, Inc., Rockville, Maryland
$495,000 for expansion of the Venture Commercialization Model (V-COMM)- Innovation Works, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
$500,000 for a rural hardware entrepreneurship program in southwest Pennsylvania- Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
$447,231 for Oregon State Engineered Wood Building Products Commercialization ProjectSeed Fund Support Grants
Seed Fund Support grants provide funding for technical assistance to support feasibility, planning, formation, or launch of cluster-based seed capital funds that provide equity-based investments in early-stage, innovation-based, startups that have high growth potential but that often struggle to secure funding early in their lifecycles.
The total amount of funding for the Seed Fund Support competition under RIS is $2 million. Grantees include:
- Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corporation, Youngstown, Ohio
$250,000 for Valley Growth Ventures, LLC- Enterprize Events Inc,, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
$250,000 for the Puerto Rico IDE Seed Fund- Coastal Enterprises Inc., Wiscasset, Maine
$250,000 for the CEI Natural Resource Business Seed Capital Fund- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
$250,000 for the Triangle Venture Alliance- BioAccel, Phoenix, Arizona
$250,000 for the Southwest Integrated Investment Ecosystem Development Project- Global Center for Medical Innovation, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia
$249,981 for the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI) MedTech Seed Fund & Accelerator Program- Illinois Science and Energy Innovation Fund, Chicago, Illinois
$248,200 for the Energy Foundry Seed Investor Education and Strategic Partner Development Project- Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- $250,000 for Greater Philadelphia Impact Partners
Source: Commerce Dept. Announces $10 Million in Innovation Grants | Kauffman.org
