{"497291":{"#nid":"497291","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech\u0027s Startup Ecosystems wins $250,000 federal grant","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EStartup Ecosystems, a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology that helps governments, communities, and other groups with their economic growth initiatives, has won a $250,000 grant from the Economic Development Administration\u2019s (EDA) 2015 Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESeparately, the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), a Georgia Tech affiliate, has been awarded a $249,981 RIS grant for its Medical Technology (MedTech) Seed Fund \u0026amp; Accelerator Program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe 2015 RIS program is managed by EDA\u2019s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eda.gov\/oie\/\u0022\u003EOIE\u003C\/a\u003E) and is designed to advance innovation and capacity-building activities in regions across the U.S. through two different competitions: the i6 Challenge and the Seed Fund Support (SFS) Grants. The 25 total awardees in both competitions, announced by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Feb. 8, will receive $10 million in grants.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis 2015 Regional Innovation Strategy cohort of grantees is truly an exciting group \u2014 the diversity in programs and regional representation proves that innovation and entrepreneurship are igniting all corners of the country,\u201d said U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Jay Williams. \u201cFrom Puerto Rico to Pittsburgh, and Seattle to Blacksburg, these programs will reach all kinds of communities and help entrepreneurs gain the edge they need to succeed.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStartup Ecosystems, which is part of Tech\u2019s Enterprise Innovation Institute, is working with EnterPRize Events and Grupo Guayacan in Puerto Rico to help foster the Caribbean island\u2019s startup ecosystem.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese types of investments are critical to address the economic barriers that exist for many bright and budding entrepreneurs in Puerto Rico,\u201d said Rafael L. Bras, Georgia Tech\u2019s provost and executive vice president for Academic Affairs. \u201cFrom proof to seed and startup, the life cycle of such ventures can experience a multitude of vulnerabilities if funding isn\u2019t available early on in the venture. Capital-based and technical support systems provided through the Seed Fund Support award provide vital bridge-gap resources, allowing these underrepresented innovators to bring exciting new ventures to the market.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe EDA grant will give Puerto Rico-based startups access to small, early-stage investments for moving customer-validated ideas to the marketplace, said David Bridges, Startup Ecosystems\u2019 director.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGeorgia Tech is fortunate to be a partner with EnterPRize Events and Grupo Guayacan in the establishment of this first-ever seed fund for Puerto Rico,\u201d Bridges said. \u201cThe Innovation Driven Enterprises or IDE seed fund will be used to support startups with high potential in their quest to reach both local and global markets.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has worked on efforts such as these with members of Puerto Rico\u2019s startup system for more than three years, Bridges noted. \u201cWe believe this grant is yet another important step toward growing a thriving innovation and entrepreneurship culture in Puerto Rico.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor GCMI, the grant will help the program increase the availability of funding to early-stage companies and maximize the opportunities for follow-on private investments, said Executive Director Tiffany Wilson.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cGCMI works with university researchers, clinicians, and early-stage companies to help accelerate the development and commercialization of new medical device technologies,\u201d Wilson said. \u0022One critical hurdle that we see many startup device\u0026nbsp;companies face is access to capital. This grant will enable GCMI to increase the availability of funding for early-stage companies and investing in companies that are solving real unmet clinical needs and customer problems.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe program will have a particular emphasis on funding diverse startup teams and seeing a greater number of female engineers and clinicians involved in the entrepreneurial process, Wilson said. \u201cWe know that diverse teams show greater returns to investors.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2014 P\u00e9ralte C. Paul\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Global Center for Medical Innovation, a Georgia Tech affiliate, also awarded grant"}],"field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Economic Development Administration\u2019s 2015 Regional Innovation Strategies program awarded $10 million in grants to various economic development initiatives across the United States."}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2016-02-09 12:37:27","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:20:38","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-02-09T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-02-09T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"497361":{"id":"497361","type":"image","title":"Grupo Guayac\u00e1n","body":null,"created":"1455120000","gmt_created":"2016-02-10 16:00:00","changed":"1475895256","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:54:16","alt":"Grupo Guayac\u00e1n","file":{"fid":"204630","name":"img9764v2smaller.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img9764v2smaller_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/img9764v2smaller_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":437425,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/img9764v2smaller_0.jpg?itok=f_Ezf9Vl"}}},"media_ids":["497361"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"}],"keywords":[{"id":"10283","name":"commerce"},{"id":"171659","name":"EDA"},{"id":"13869","name":"GCMI"},{"id":"13868","name":"Global Center for Medical Innovation"},{"id":"169900","name":"Startup Ecosystems"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELaura Diamond\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["peralte.paul@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}