This week, Business Oregon and the Oregon Innovation Council (Oregon InC) announced the Enhanced Innovation Grant Program that will fund up to five proposals from innovation-based companies that either show an ability to commercialize a technology that will help address the COVID-19 crisis and move to economic recovery or Oregon InC portfolio companies that are poised to commercialize their product.
Oregon InC supports companies with high-growth potential emerging from science and research. In 2018-2019, Oregon InC invested a total of $2,510,251 in 27 companies through the Enhanced Phase 0 program, providing critical gap funding for early research and development projects. These early investments supported innovative companies to scale up in Oregon, develop new technologies and products, create or retain jobs, and move products closer to market. As of January 2020, those companies have raised $13.4 million in additional grant and private funding, and generated $3.5 million in sales revenue.
Innovation-based entrepreneurship will be vital for Oregon’s economic recovery, and can play a key role in fighting the pandemic. Because of that, Oregon InC is re-launching the Enhanced Phase 0 program, now named the Enhanced Innovation Grant program. The Enhanced Innovation Grants will be awarded to early-stage Oregon companies that:
- are advancing innovation-based solutions related to the resolution or the management of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; or,
- have received previous Oregon InC funding and have
smade progress toward commercialization since that funding.
Business Oregon has $250,000 available in the program, for individual grants up to $50,000. Proposals will be due Wednesday, May 20th and will go through a formal review process. Full details can be found in the RFP document on Business Oregon’s website.
Contact: Nathan Buehler, 503-689-3559.