Around the World in TBED

In addition to the recent announcement of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Incubator program (See related Digest article), several other countries announced initiatives that will provide financial and other resources to support innovation incubator and accelerator programs to help cultivate new tech startups and increase economic growth.

Canada
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that 15 organizations were chosen to advance in the selection process for the Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program (CAIP). Established in 2013, CAIP is intended to help accelerators and incubators deliver commercialization and other services to Canadian tech firms. As part of the CAIP network, each accelerator and incubator will receive up to $5 million CAD (approximately $4.7 million USD) in grants per year for a five-year period. CAIP recipients will be required to demonstrate matching contributions on at least a 1:1 basis during the same period. The proposals will be evaluated by the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) with winners announced later this year. Read the announcement…

United Kingdom
In the UK,  Creative England, an English digital media investment firm funded in part by the European Union, announced a new partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe to create an on a new incubator and accelerator program called GamesLab Campus. Via GamesLab Campus, Creative England will establish an accelerator fund that will invest £250,000 (approximately $248,075 USD) into five video game startup studios (£50,000 each; approximately $85,615 USD). In addition, the five studios will also receive business support, development kits for the three PlayStation platforms and other technical and fringe benefits. Read the announcement…

New Zealand
Callaghan Innovation, a New Zealand government-funded innovation hub, announced that three tech incubators will receive funding under its Incubator Support Program. The three will be eligible for up to $450,000 NZD (approximately $396,369 USD) in repayable government grants. In addition, the companies that they incubate also will eligible for matching funding up to $150,000 NZD (approximately $132,123 USD) with a 1:3 match ratio. An additional five business incubators also will receive funding. Established in 2001, the Incubator Support Program currently provides funding to seven businesses incubators across New Zealand. Read the announcement…