MassCEC announced its commitment of $400,000 to increase the capacity, scope, and impact of MassVentures’ SBIR Targeted Technologies Program (START).
This new partnership comes in the wake of the 2016 pilot program’s success, which expanded START’s eligibility towards US Department of Energy SBIR grant recipients. With this new funding, the START program can now award twelve companies up to $1.2 million in Stage 1, and can offer six companies in Stage 2 up to $1.2 million.
The START program was founded in 2012, in line with MassVentures’ goals to fuel the innovation economy within Massachusetts by funding high-growth startups in their early stages. Since its launch, START has provided 50 SBIR/STTR projects with $12 million in funding, such as Cambrian Innovation, the MTPV Power Corporation, and NewGrid, Inc. being awarded Stage I Funding in 2016 alone. The program has also received the US Small Business Administration’s 2015 Tibbetts Award.
In a recent press release the President of MassVentures, Jerry Bird, stated, “We know that innovation will drive our energy future, and it is clear from last year’s applicant pool that capital is needed to help promising clean energy ideas become real-world solutions. With the generous support of MassCEC, the START program will be able to help more Massachusetts start-ups with the funding, experience, mentoring and networks they need to potentially transition to high-growth companies.”
Stephen Pike, the CEO of MassCEC, added, “Massachusetts is a national and international innovation destination and our partnership with MassVentures supports the entrepreneurs fueling high-tech economic growth across the state.”
