SSTI Digest

Undergraduate alumni from the top 10 universities for venture capital-backed (VC-backed) entrepreneurs launched over 3,000 companies that were able to attract $33.5 billion in VC funding from 2010 to 2015, according to the third edition of PitchBook’s Universities Report 2015-2016 Edition. Four public research institutions, UC-Berkeley, University of Michigan, University of Texas, and University of Illinois, finished in the top 10. The authors conclude that public research institutions that ranked among the 50 top VC-backed undergraduate entrepreneurs represent the intersection of emerging or maturing startup ecosystems and academia. In addition to ranking the top 50 universities for VC-backed undergraduate entrepreneurs, PitchBook also ranks the top schools for M.B.A. students and female entrepreneurs in regard to their alumni’s ability to attract VC-backing. With regard to female entrepreneurs, the top 10 is driven mostly by private universities with only UC-Berkeley and the University of Texas cracking the top 10. The data presented in this report was tracked from PitchBook’s VC database of more than 25,000 valuations, 970,000-plus people, and over 78,000…

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it is accepting applications for the first round of its Small Business Vouchers Pilot (SBV) program. Under the SBV program, the DOE will commit up to $20 million in technical and research assistance awards to help small businesses bring next-generation clean energy technologies. Companies may apply for and receive up to $300,000 in assistance from U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories nationwide. Assistance will be offered in nine topical areas and can range from materials development to modeling to prototyping and scale-up, and much more.  DOE intends for this program to increase and enhance laboratory-private sector relationships, increase and streamline access to national laboratory capabilities, and demonstrate the value of lab-developed science and technology. Program eligibility is restricted to U.S.-owned and U.S.-based small businesses (fewer than 500 employees). Companies that receive SBV awards must commit to a 20 percent cost match, which can be in the form of labor. Applications are due October 23. Depending on funding availability, DOE intends to offer businesses up to two additional opportunities…

Seed stage valuations have risen steadily over the last five years to an all-time high of 3.95 million (Median), a 30% increase over 2014, according to the recently released 2015 Q2 ARI HALO Report from the Angel Resource Institute at Willamette University (ARI). The authors found that all U.S. geographical regions have seen increases in round size in the last six quarters with the largest increases in round sizes in the Great Plains ($0.2 million to $1.1 million), Mid-Atlantic ($0.3 million to $1.5 million), and Northwest ($0.3 million to $1.5 million) regions. While New England and the Southeast maintain a relatively balanced portfolio across sectors, the authors found several regional industry concentrations exist including: mobile and Internet in California and New York; food & beverage in Texas; and, Industrial and Healthcare in the Great Lakes. ARI researchers also found that angel investing activity is equally distributed across the country (50%/50%) when parsed either East and West or North and South. The 2015 Q2 ARI HALO Report data is based on 4,719 deals totaling $7.5 billion in total rounds including co-inventors. Read the report at: http://www.…

Economic conditions across the country continue to improve, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ (BEA) latest release of gross state product (GSP) data. GSP is derived as the sum of the gross domestic product originating in all the industries in a state. The period between 2008 and 2009, where the U.S. GDP decreased by 2 percent, marked a transition for many states, where their gross state product either decreased from the year before or where their growth rate was subdued. Since then, however, every state has experienced at least a 10 percent increase in gross state product from 2009 to 2014. During this time, the U.S. GDP has increased by 20.8 percent, roughly 3.8 percent per year. North Dakota (72.3 percent), Texas (52.9 percent), Nebraska (30.6 percent), Oklahoma (27.9 percent) experienced the largest percent increases in gross state product from 2009 to 2014. GSP in each of these states largely increased as a result of activity in the mining and agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industries. On the other hand, growth lagged comparatively in Maine (10.6 percent), Nevada (10.9 percent), Connecticut (11.5 percent), and Delaware (11.6 percent).…

While speaking in Detroit last week, Vice President Joe Biden announced the creation of an Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IAMCI)  location in Detroit, aimed at creating better composite materials for wind turbines, compressed gas storage, and in particular, the automotive industry. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Michigan State University will serve as the primary academic partner for the IAMCI consortium, which consists of 122 members across six states: Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. According to a press release from Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, the IACMI’s open-access pilot manufacturing test facility and technology development and demonstration programs will be driven by major industry participation. The institute will be co-located at the Institute for Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT) facility in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood. LIFT, which was announced in early 2014 as part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) initiative, focuses on coordinating public and private investment around emerging advanced…

While most state legislative sessions ended over the summer, a number of states only recently approved spending for FY16. Governors in Alabama, North Carolina and New Hampshire have approved budgets in the past few weeks, each after months of tense negotiations. SSTI reviews budgets in each of these states for spending related to technology-based economic development. For past articles in this series, visit ssti.org/tags/state-budget. AlabamaLast week, Gov. Robert Bentley signed Alabama FY 2016 General Fund Appropriations bill (HB1, Second Special Session 2015) following a second special session of the legislature. Funding for many state agencies was reduced by 5.5 percent, and $80 million in use tax revenue from the state’s Education Trust Fund was moved to the General Fund. The spending bill provides $1.75 billion, including $7.4 million for the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) and $5.2 million for the Department of Commerce. Of the Commerce Dept. funding, $75,000 is appropriated to support the state’s Robotics Technology Park. North CarolinaGov. Pat McCrory has signed a $21.7 billion budget bill (H97)…

Last week, the Treasury Department released guidance recognizing foundations may make investments with a wider range of return and risk expectations so long as they are not jeopardizing or compromising their charitable missions.  Proponents for the change expect the guidance to open the doors to more mission-related investments (MRIs), impact investing and innovative finance approaches to dealing with the growing array of societal and environmental issues confronting the globe. This should also create opportunities for new partnerships with forward-thinking venture development organizations and tech-based economic development initiatives.  On the heels of the IRS guidance release, the Kresge Foundation, which has already supported a number of Michigan-based economic development initiatives, announced it expects to increase its impact investing portfolio to $350 million by 2020.   Organizations had sought clarity from the IRS on the role and value MRIs and other social finance tools can play in a foundation’s asset management and investment strategy including the Mission Investors Exchange, the Council of Foundations (COF) and the Council of…

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez has released the state’s first comprehensive energy plan since 1991. Her administration characterizes the plan as an “all of the above” approach with an emphasis on improving infrastructure, creating new incentives and streamlining regulations. Though the plan does not feature support for energy technology R&D, it prioritizes reducing fresh water consumption and improving workforce training for energy jobs.  In Vermont, a recent report notes that the state has grown clean energy employment by more than 6 percent in the last year. The New Mexico plan outlines a strategy to leverage the state’s position as the fourth highest net-energy supplier to the United States into new jobs and energy independence. Pillars of the plan include funding for infrastructure projects, such as rail lines and electric transmission, incentives for natural gas, a low-carbon energy portfolio standard and the removal of regulatory barriers. The rapid development of the state’s oil, natural gas and nuclear energy sectors have left employers in need of workers training in energy fields. The state identifies a number of…

The Department of Energy (DOE) announced it will commit up to $70 million in funding for the Manufacturing Innovation Institute for Smart Manufacturing to support R&D efforts to develop, demonstrate, and transition to industry advanced sensing, instrumentation, monitoring, control, and process optimization as well as modeling and simulation technologies for industrial automation. The Innovation Institute on Smart Manufacturing will be the third DOE-funded facility as part of President Obama’s National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI) institutes. As with the DOE-led NNMI institutes, those eligible to apply for the federal funding announcement (FOA) as the prime recipient include state and local governments and nonprofit and for-profit organizations. A mandatory concept paper from all applications is due by November 4 with applications due January 29, 2016. Read the FOA….

Five North Carolina communities have been selected to participate in InnovateNC, a two-year economic development initiative centered on sharing knowledge, tools and resources between partner regions. Asheville, Greensboro, Pembroke, Wilmington and the city and county of Wilson were chosen from the 18 applicant regions. The initiative is spearheaded by NC State University’s Institute for Emerging Issues with nine partners and supported by a grant from the Kenan Creative Collaboratory. The selected communities will create local innovation councils and develop tailored local innovation strategies in an effort to expand the benefits of the innovation economy to parts of the state that have not experienced the same boom as the Research Triangle and Charlotte. Find more information at: http://iei.ncsu.edu/emerging-issues/innovation-reconstructed/forumnextsteps/innovatenc/.

Since the establishment of the Tennessee Promise in 2014, the first statewide free community college effort, community college systems and states are outlining their own strategies to make a two-year education free for students in their region in attempt to create an educated, qualified workforce that addresses the needs of industry and promotes economic prosperity. While it may remain too early to judge the benefits and the costs of these programs – lawmakers and educational professionals remain divided on the issue.  In Wisconsin, Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) announced a plan to offer tuition-free enrollment to low-income, academically qualified high school seniors starting in the fall of 2016. Called the MATC Promise, the privately funded program is intended boost MATC’s enrollment and create a pathway to receive a college degree for students from families who otherwise could not afford to send their kids to college. In  exchange for MATC covering the difference between students' federal and state financial aid and the cost of tuition and fees, students will be required to perform at least eight hours of community service…

The STEM Funders Network (SFN) announced that 27 communities will pilot the national science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) Ecosystems Initiative. Launched at the Clinton Global Initiative, the program is intended to nurture and scale effective preK-16 instruction best practices in STEM learning. The new initiative focuses on cultivated cross-sector partnerships with industry, institutions of higher education, government, and foundations to develop specific programs that address the gaps in the community’s current STEM education system. SFN leadership intends to use these 27 communities and future participant communities to develop a platform for a national and regional peer-to-peer professional learning network for communities to share information, expertise and best practices in preK-16 STEM education through meetings, conference calls, web-based meetings, and other web-based methods. Read the announcement…