NYSTAR Network Organizations Receive Innovation-Fueling EDA Grants

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FuzeHub is among four New York State organizations that will receive a “Build to Scale” grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). The EDA also awarded grants to the City University of New York (CUNY), Cornell University, and Launch NY.

The EDA recently announced $36.5 million in federal funding to 50 organizations across the country and nearly $40 million in matching investments from public- and private-sector sources. These “Build to Scale” investments will support programs that fuel innovation, job creation, and technology-based regional economic development.

FuzeHub was awarded $753,546 from the EDA for its Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund Manufacturing Grants program, which encourages collaboration between not-for-profit organizations and small- to medium-sized manufacturing companies in New York State.

Grants disbursed through FuzeHub’s Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund serve as a resource for companies from early stage, proof of concept through maturity. The program not only helps manufacturers meet growth challenges and accelerate their paths to commercial success, but also creates jobs, revenue, and economic impact.

“The success of the Innovation Fund is on display every day, across the state. Our awardees have made incredible strides in their commercialization journeys and contributed to the ongoing evolution of New York’s manufacturing capabilities,” said Elena Garuc, Executive Director of FuzeHub. “This award from the EDA will allow us to assist even more early-stage manufacturers — an effort that will fast-track innovation and boost our state’s regional economies.”

The other three New York State­–based projects to receive EDA grants are:

  • City University of New York: $750,000 to accelerate 40 new medical technology products and create more than 800 desirable STEM jobs in Greater Harlem through the proposed Center for Co-Innovation and Medical Technology.
  • Launch NY: $750,000 to serve startups that have progressed beyond minimum viable product development. Through the Fast Forward project, Launch New York will help those companies scale commercial operations in technology-driven industry sectors.
  • Cornell University: $400,000 to increase the flow of capital to seed- and early-stage startups in New York through the Big Red Ventures Investor Network. The network aims to serve as an upstate-downstate bridge for scalable startups that will attract investors from the global venture capital community.

“For the last 10 years, CUNY has been systematically building a successful innovation infrastructure that started with I-Corps and then incorporated the NYSTAR-affiliated CUNY Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship,” said John A. Blaho, Ph.D., CUNY Director for Industrial-Academic Research. “These efforts enabled CUNY to be perfectly positioned to successfully compete for EDA funding that will spur innovation and deep-technology job creation in the NYC region.”

“Now more than ever making entrepreneurship drive meaningful job and wealth creation is vital to our economic recovery, and this new EDA award for our Fast Forward initiative will ensure that we have the stepped up services for our robust pipeline of startups who are ready to move beyond the seed stage into scale-up mode,” Marnie LaVigne, Ph.D., President and CEO of Launch NY, said in a statement released by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

As the statewide New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership center, FuzeHub is an asset within Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) innovation network.

Several programs at CUNY and Cornell University are also supported by NYSTAR funding; Launch NY is a partner in the NYSTAR network. There are over 70 NYSTAR-backed centers across the state that are actively working to generate technology-driven economic growth.

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