EDA steps up game to fund startups; 3 business trips; Flyover U & More
“Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.” – Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO
Today’s itinerary:
FUNDING THE FUTURE
EDA program to help economies through scalable startups
The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has announced the launch of a redesigned program called Build to Scale (B2S). Under the Build to Scale Program, EDA will manage a portfolio of grant competitions that further technology-based economic development initiatives that "accelerate high quality job growth, create more economic opportunities, and support the future of the next generation of industry leading companies."
Congress has appropriated $33 million for the program, and the EDA has designed a streamlined application to improve the application process will enable it to reach more communities and scale the impact of the program.
There are three separate competitions in the Build to Scale Program:
The Venture Challenge, which makes $26 million available to support entrepreneurship and accelerate company growth in communities, regions or combinations of regions.
BUSINESS TRIPS
Solinftec moving global headquarters to Indiana 
Photo credit: Purdue University
Solinftec, a leader in the booming digital agriculture field, announced that it will officially move its global headquarters from Brazil to West Lafayette, IN, bringing hundreds of high-wage jobs along with it. The latest move follows a $50 million investment announced in late 2018 that established the company's US headquarters in West Lafayette, conveniently situated in Purdue University's backyard, where all things agtech reign supreme.
According to Daniel Padrão, Solinftec's chief operating officer, the move to Indiana will allow the company to fully focus on the increasing demand in the North American market for the company's award-winning crop-optimization services. Solinftec's SaaS platform equips farmers with the power to harness real-time insights on crop management and maximize overall crop yields, while reducing environmental impacts in the process.
The move to Indiana is a natural fit, where agbiosciences already account for nearly $16 billion of the state's annual GDP.
How B2B payment network AvidXchange landed in Charlotte It’s the magic formula every city aspires to: What kinds of amenities and incentives are best able to attract business investment? For an insider’s perspective, check out the Charlotte Observer’s interview with AvidXchange CEO Mike Praeger, “How a Labor Day weekend on Lake Norman scored Charlotte a $2 billion startup.”
But a key ingredient was Charlotte’s supportive startup ecosystem, including support from top local finance figures such as Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl and former Wachovia CEO Ed Crutchfield, who both invested in the startup. That investment has clearly paid off for the investors but also for the city. AvidXchange employs more than 1,100 people in Charlotte, a figure that grows by about 225 each year.
Nashville-based Built buys software firm As crazy as it might sound, some pockets of the business world are still using paper to run their businesses. The construction industry, for instance, is often mired in paperwork, especially when it comes to capital. One company trying to change that is Built Technologies, a Nashville startup that manages loan disbursements and simplifies the way borrowers and contractors access capital from lenders. The fast-growing company employs 125 people in suburban Nashville.
FLYOVER U BRIEFS
Kansas State University's new tech transfer initiative
The research foundation of Kansas State University and its Institute for Commercialization have combined over the years to create more than 500 jobs in the Flint Hills region of Kansas resulting in more than $28 million in annual salaries.
Now, the two organizations have merged to create Innovation Partners, streamlining their approach to corporate relations, technology transfer and economic development to spur even more growth.
The merger was completed last July and allows Innovation Partners to better leverage its resources to deliver on the land-grant university's economic mission. The research foundation has worked since 1942 to connect Kansas State researchers with projects that promote the school's intellectual property — more than 58 patents have been granted to them in the last five years alone. The Institute for Commercialization came along in 1994 with a focus on starting and expanding tech-based, high-growth enterprises.
“One of my charges was to bring these units together as a unique hub for intellectual property protection, commercialization and corporate engagement,” said Peter Dorhout, vice president of research at Kansas State. “Unifying these offices will achieve that goal and will strength our ability to collaborate internally at K-State as well as externally.”
University of Nebraska at Omaha to become hub of counterterrorism research
With a $3.65 million-a-year grant for 10 years, the university will lead a group of academic, industry, laboratory partners and government to find ways to prevent or counteract threats to the nation’s people, infrastructure and economy.
Making Pittsburgh a hub for neuroscience
Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh join forces to form the Neurovascular Coupling Interest Group, one of the new Collaboration Clusters funded by the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC),
The University of Louisville advances next-gen manufacturing tech
The Kentucky National Science Foundation’s (NSF) EPSCoR, or Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, has awarded a $24 million grant to the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky (with six other Kentucky institutions) to advance next generation manufacturing technology.
The NIH awards Purdue $3.2 million to fight deadly lung infections
A Purdue team has received a $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for its work to treat antibiotic-resistant lower respiratory infections – the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide.
FINAL APPROACH
Startup uses design to help people learn to read
See Word Design, a startup founded by Renee Seward, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, is attracting national attention.
It uses graphics to assist young readers by providing visual clues to give them context and help them understand the material. Though originally created to help children with dyslexia, the technology has broad potential, from young children learning the alphabet to future products that will meet the needs of adults for whom English is a second language.
Seward’s journey began when she realized that the same strategies used to build brands could possibly help teach reading skills to youngsters. She started visiting private schools and talking to technology specialists to see whether such a vision of benefiting early education could be realized.
She’s also working on new font technology that will aid in literacy and hopes to expand the app to include stories for all ages, so her tool can teach English to adults as well.
The idea became a reality through the Venture Lab at the University of Cincinnati’s 1819 Innovation Hub, which helps UC faculty, staff, students, and alumni commercialize their ideas.
Venture Lab entrepreneur-in-residence Nancy Koors, who co-founded See Word Design, now serves as the company's CEO.
The See Word Reading app is currently being tested around the world in schools from Cincinnati to Singapore.
IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
Useless information that is strangely fascinating.
Click here for today's answers.
MISSING SOMETHING? 
Did you miss a newsletter, or simply wish to catch up on previous issues of Flyover Future? Then check out our newsletter archives here. View all complete issues of Flyover Future back to our initial launch date of August 5, 2019!
REACH OUT Please click the button below to share stories and offer suggestions or comments |
“Chase the vision, not the money; the money will end up following you.” – Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO
Today’s itinerary:
FUNDING THE FUTURE
EDA program to help economies through scalable startups
The U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) has announced the launch of a redesigned program called Build to Scale (B2S). Under the Build to Scale Program, EDA will manage a portfolio of grant competitions that further technology-based economic development initiatives that "accelerate high quality job growth, create more economic opportunities, and support the future of the next generation of industry leading companies."
Congress has appropriated $33 million for the program, and the EDA has designed a streamlined application to improve the application process will enable it to reach more communities and scale the impact of the program.
There are three separate competitions in the Build to Scale Program:
The Venture Challenge, which makes $26 million available to support entrepreneurship and accelerate company growth in communities, regions or combinations of regions.
BUSINESS TRIPS
Solinftec moving global headquarters to Indiana
Photo credit: Purdue University
Solinftec, a leader in the booming digital agriculture field, announced that it will officially move its global headquarters from Brazil to West Lafayette, IN, bringing hundreds of high-wage jobs along with it. The latest move follows a $50 million investment announced in late 2018 that established the company's US headquarters in West Lafayette, conveniently situated in Purdue University's backyard, where all things agtech reign supreme.
According to Daniel Padrão, Solinftec's chief operating officer, the move to Indiana will allow the company to fully focus on the increasing demand in the North American market for the company's award-winning crop-optimization services. Solinftec's SaaS platform equips farmers with the power to harness real-time insights on crop management and maximize overall crop yields, while reducing environmental impacts in the process.
The move to Indiana is a natural fit, where agbiosciences already account for nearly $16 billion of the state's annual GDP.
How B2B payment network AvidXchange landed in Charlotte It’s the magic formula every city aspires to: What kinds of amenities and incentives are best able to attract business investment? For an insider’s perspective, check out the Charlotte Observer’s interview with AvidXchange CEO Mike Praeger, “How a Labor Day weekend on Lake Norman scored Charlotte a $2 billion startup.”
But a key ingredient was Charlotte’s supportive startup ecosystem, including support from top local finance figures such as Bank of America CEO Hugh McColl and former Wachovia CEO Ed Crutchfield, who both invested in the startup. That investment has clearly paid off for the investors but also for the city. AvidXchange employs more than 1,100 people in Charlotte, a figure that grows by about 225 each year.
Nashville-based Built buys software firm As crazy as it might sound, some pockets of the business world are still using paper to run their businesses. The construction industry, for instance, is often mired in paperwork, especially when it comes to capital. One company trying to change that is Built Technologies, a Nashville startup that manages loan disbursements and simplifies the way borrowers and contractors access capital from lenders. The fast-growing company employs 125 people in suburban Nashville.
FLYOVER U BRIEFS
Kansas City University's new tech transfer initiative
The research foundation of Kansas State University and its Institute for Commercialization have combined over the years to create more than 500 jobs in the Flint Hills region of Kansas resulting in more than $28 million in annual salaries.
Now, the two organizations have merged to create Innovation Partners, streamlining their approach to corporate relations, technology transfer and economic development to spur even more growth.
The merger was completed last July and allows Innovation Partners to better leverage its resources to deliver on the land-grant university's economic mission. The research foundation has worked since 1942 to connect Kansas State researchers with projects that promote the school's intellectual property — more than 58 patents have been granted to them in the last five years alone. The Institute for Commercialization came along in 1994 with a focus on starting and expanding tech-based, high-growth enterprises.
“One of my charges was to bring these units together as a unique hub for intellectual property protection, commercialization and corporate engagement,” said Peter Dorhout, vice president of research at Kansas State. “Unifying these offices will achieve that goal and will strength our ability to collaborate internally at K-State as well as externally.”
University of Nebraska at Omaha to become hub of counterterrorism research
With a $3.65 million-a-year grant for 10 years, the university will lead a group of academic, industry, laboratory partners and government to find ways to prevent or counteract threats to the nation’s people, infrastructure and economy.
Making Pittsburgh a hub for neuroscience
Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh join forces to form the Neurovascular Coupling Interest Group, one of the new Collaboration Clusters funded by the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC),
The University of Louisville advances next-gen manufacturing tech
The Kentucky National Science Foundation’s (NSF) EPSCoR, or Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, has awarded a $24 million grant to the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky (with six other Kentucky institutions) to advance next generation manufacturing technology.
The NIH awards Purdue $3.2 million to fight deadly lung infections
A Purdue team has received a $3.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for its work to treat antibiotic-resistant lower respiratory infections – the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide.
FINAL APPROACH
Startup uses design to help people learn to read
See Word Design, a startup founded by Renee Seward, an associate professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, is attracting national attention.
It uses graphics to assist young readers by providing visual clues to give them context and help them understand the material. Though originally created to help children with dyslexia, the technology has broad potential, from young children learning the alphabet to future products that will meet the needs of adults for whom English is a second language.
Seward’s journey began when she realized that the same strategies used to build brands could possibly help teach reading skills to youngsters. She started visiting private schools and talking to technology specialists to see whether such a vision of benefiting early education could be realized.
She’s also working on new font technology that will aid in literacy and hopes to expand the app to include stories for all ages, so her tool can teach English to adults as well.
The idea became a reality through the Venture Lab at the University of Cincinnati’s 1819 Innovation Hub, which helps UC faculty, staff, students, and alumni commercialize their ideas.
Venture Lab entrepreneur-in-residence Nancy Koors, who co-founded See Word Design, now serves as the company's CEO.
The See Word Reading app is currently being tested around the world in schools from Cincinnati to Singapore.
IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
Useless information that is strangely fascinating.
Click here for today's answers.
MISSING SOMETHING?
Did you miss a newsletter, or simply wish to catch up on previous issues of Flyover Future? Then check out our newsletter archives here. View all complete issues of Flyover Future back to our initial launch date of August 5, 2019!
REACH OUT Please click the button below to share stories and offer suggestions or comments |