A double whammy for technology startups this week--a $30 million commercialization fund for research institution spinouts and a nonprofit incubator for local small businesses.
FCI Commercialization Fund in Erie is raising $30 million for a select group of research institutions--including University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon--primarily for nanotechnology and cyber security startups. Investments will range between $1 and $2 million, says Kurt Buseck, a managing partner in the fund.
"There are huge opportunities in these areas," Buseck says. "Lots of corporations are looking for research to drive their innovation and we're bridging that gap."
The fund is backed by several internationally recognized experts including Bob Mehalso, a pioneer in the commercialization of micro/
nano/biosystems; Dennis Pollutro, founder of San Francisco-based Applied Indentity and Scott Hartz, CEO of Price Waterhouse Coopers Consulting.
FCI hopes to match the funded startups with more than two dozen large corporations. Buseck declined to give names. The investments will be offered to research institutions in Ohio, Pennsylvania, western New York and Baltimore, Buseck says. "We're hoping to be in a position to begin investing in June."
And more investment news. A new nonprofit incubator, StartUptown, is coming to Fifth Avenue downtown. Dale McNutt, owner of graphic design studio Soho & Company, hopes to raise funds through several sources, with the help of the
Pittsburgh Central Keystone Innovation Zone, for an incubator for technology and social innovation companies.
"In time, we will provide seed funding to jump-start new ventures that come from the natural collaborative energies between incubator residents themselves, and from collaboration with the Uptown community," says McNutt.
Writer:
Deb SmitSource: Kurt Buseck, FCI Commercialization; Dale McNutt, StartUptown
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