EDA Announces $10M for Innovation Capacity-Building Activities; SSTI to Host Free Webinar on 2015 RIS Competition

Update: You can view the full webinar and download the slide presentation at: http://ssti.org/regional-innovation-strategies-program-informational-webinar

Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced the launch of the Economic Development Administration's (EDA) 2015 Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) Program competition to spur innovation capacity-building activities in regions across the nation. Under the 2015 announcement, SBA will commit $10 million for two funding opportunities:

• i6 Challenge – approximately $8 million in awards will be made to organizations that help innovators and entrepreneurs turn innovations, ideas, intellectual property, and research into viable, sustainable companies; and,
• Seed Fund Support Grants (previously Cluster Grants for Seed Capital Funds) – approximately $2 million in awards will be made to organizations to develop regionally focused seed capital funds that provide early stage capital to innovation-based startups with a potential for high growth.

In an effort to promote and support inclusion, EDA expects to award up to $2.5 million of the $8 million allocated for i6 Challenges to projects that provide services to rural areas and underrepresented communities. Applications are due October 5, 2015. More information, including eligibility and matching requirements, can be found at: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=278198.

On August 13 at 4:00 P.M. ET, SSTI will host a Free Webinar on the 2015 Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) Program. During this special webinar, SSTI staff will be joined by representatives from the EDA’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship to provide more information on  the 2015 RIS competition and answer questions from the audience.