Search

Although it led the global digital revolution, the United States is faltering now when it comes to digital skills possessed by the workforce. That is one of the findings of a recent report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), which goes on to say that such developments bode poorly for long-term U.S. competitiveness if such trends aren’t reversed.

Tuesday’s announcement by Revolution of the creation of a $150 million Rise of the Rest Seed Fund for companies located outside of Silicon Valley builds on Steve Case’s tour to connect with entrepreneurs throughout the middle of the country. The Rise of the Rest Seed Fund enjoys the backing of more than three dozen other big investors from Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt to the Waltons and Kochs, and is intended to provide support and connections to entrepreneurs in small towns and underserved cities.

Earlier today, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced the 2023 notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the Build to Scale program. State and local governments, nonprofits, higher education institutions, National Labs, and others can compete for $50 million to support new and expanded initiatives supporting regional commercialization, entrepreneurship, and capital formation efforts.

Two competitions comprise the FY 2023 Build to Scale program:

The PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor Q2 2020 shows that COVID-19 is having an impact on the earliest parts of the venture capital funnel. By extrapolating the first half data through the rest of 2020, initial investments are on pace for a 26 percent decline from 2019, and the fewest total deals since 2010. Continuing this same extrapolation, seed investments are on track for a 36 percent decline in 2020 from 2019 and also the lowest level in at least seven years.

Two recent studies explored public perceptions of science and technology and higher education in the United States. The first study from the NSF National Science Board explores public perceptions and awareness of science and technology among American adults, and a separate report from New America analyzes attitudes on higher education, with a particular interest in the transition to online instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is implementing a final rule, effective Aug. 17, that adds a category of Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) that will make the program a better-fit for early-stage investment strategies. The most significant change in this direction is the creation of an accrual funding mechanism that enables licensed SBICs to receive a loan from SBA that is repaid only upon distribution events or at the end of a 10-year term.

SSTI has written a response to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) proposed revisions to the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program, which aim to increase program participation.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the country’s reliance on overseas manufacturing production when there was a lack of medical supplies and equipment to treat those affected by the virus as supply chains were reliant on supplies from outside the country. A recent report from Heartland Forward finds that many domestic and foreign companies are recognizing the strategic advantages of locating in the U.S. and are considering reshoring operations.

Higher education enrollment dropped 1.1% between fall 2021 and 2022, a slight reprieve from historic COVID-induced drop-offs, as revealed by new preliminary data from the National Student Clearinghouse. Since fall 2020, enrollment has decreased by a combined 3.2% for graduate and undergraduate enrollment, representing a drop of approximately 1.5 million students since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

College earnings premiums appear to be declining for the first time in decades and the value proposition of college is beginning to fade in the eyes of many, according to the Harvard Workforce Almanac. As education costs continue to skyrocket and student debt mounts, Americans are reconsidering whether college is truly worth the expense. One means of addressing the issue is to provide data to better inform decision-making.

Technologies developed by West Virginia University and the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks that extract and separate rare elements and critical minerals from acid mine drainage and coal waste, will each receive $8 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.

There is an opportunity to turbocharge U.S. innovation by addressing barriers to collaboration between research universities and industry, according to Sheila Martin, vice president of economic development and community engagement at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU).

The EDA University Center Economic Development Program Competition recently announced $2.5 million in grants awarded to 25 colleges and universities in the Chicago and Philadelphia EDA regions to leverage assets, promote innovation and strengthen regional economies. The goal of these awards is “to boost innovation, create good-paying jobs and ensure American competitiveness in the global economy” while funding research as well as innovation economy development services.

With President Biden’s signing the CHIPS and Science Act on Aug. 9, states and universities are already making plans to build on the funding opportunities present in the legislation.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $540 million in awards for research into clean energy technologies and low-carbon manufacturing at 54 universities and 11 national laboratories.

The Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) — a nonprofit working to grow Georgia’s economy through supporting research at state universities — recently announced that its portfolio of companies had raised more than over $2 billion in venture capital. These startups also had a high survival rate — 88% were still in business four years after launch, outpacing the national average of 44%. Along with this announcement, GRA released 2021 data on their economic impact on the state, demonstrating growth from the previous year.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA), a public-private partnership that works with both the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Economic Development to expand the research capacity at the state’s universities and seed and shape startup companies. When it was formed in 1990, GRA was a new kind of enterprise.

Fighting stereotypes, finding capital and scaling up are just some of the techniques outlined in a new playbook designed to bring more women in entrepreneurship roles and revitalize the U.S. economy. Elevating Women in Entrepreneurship, by Erika R.

In last week’s Digest, SSTI looked at several macro venture capital (VC) trends, this week’s Useful Stats article focuses on regional trends as well as provides downloadable VC stats by state by quarter from Q1 of 2016 to Q2 of 2018. The data includes median VC deal size, VC deals, and VC dollars invested.

Between federal interest rates over 3% and post-pandemic economic impacts that affect macroeconomic trends, many have predicted a continued decline in venture capital outcomes, only some of which has held true through Q3. 

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the approval of seven additional states’ programs for State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funding, totaling over $1.6 billion: Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Virginia. A short summary of these states’ plans, all of which include investment capital, are available below:

Total deal counts across angel, seed and VC deals for Q4 2022 were the lowest of the year at 2,935 deals, a decrease of 670 deals as compared to Q3 2022, according to Q4 data from PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor Q4 2022. Despite low deal counts for Q4, 2022 is still on track to come in close behind 2021, which marked the highest deal count since the data began being collected in 2012.

The measurements for success of female-founded and female-co-founded companies, while improving, remain lower than male-founded companies in number, deal count, and capital invested, according to PitchBook’s 2023 Annual US VC Valuations Report. PitchBook found that female-only-founded startups received just 2% of all venture capital (VC) dollars in 2023, while those female-co-founded reached 21% that year—a record high.

The third quarter of 2023 continues the venture capital market’s recent two-year decline in investments, investors, and initial public offerings. This puts a squeeze on startups.

While the growth of female-founded and co-founded companies has increased at a faster rate than those of male-founded and co-founded and mixed gender founded companies, it is still a smaller amount than the other two. Additionally, these companies are more likely to receive a higher proportion of deals occurring earlier in the VC pipeline.