BEVERLY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--North Shore InnoVentures (NSIV), one of New England’s leading technology incubators and business accelerators, announced today that it received a highly competitive award for $50,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Accelerator Growth Fund Competition. NSIV was one of only three award winners in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
In the third year of the award, the SBA received more than 400 applications. In total $3.4 million will be distributed to 68 winners to boost the economic impact of accelerators across 32 states and the District of Columbia, and to continue building the support structures needed to help startups become commercially viable and create jobs more quickly.
“We accelerate the growth of innovative biotech and cleantech startups through our structured mentoring program. This significant and highly competitive grant continues to validate our “collaboration for innovation” model, as well as the economic value that we and our technology startup companies bring to the greater North Shore community,” said Martha Farmer, co-founder and CEO of North Shore InnoVentures.
“Through this national competition, we are also empowering accelerators which are led by and support women or other under-represented groups,” said SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet. “Accelerators serve entrepreneurs in a broad set of industries and sectors – from manufacturing and tech start-ups, to farming and biotech – with many focused on creating a diverse and inclusive small business community. SBA will continue to explore ways to creatively harness this powerful network and connect startups with one another and with available government resources.”
Applications were judged by more than 100 experts with entrepreneurial, investment, startup, economic development, capital formation and academic backgrounds from both the public and private sector. The first panel of judges reviewed more than 400 applications and presentations and established a pool of 200 highly qualified finalists. The second panel evaluated the finalists’ presentations and pitch videos and selected the 68 winners.
A non-profit organization, NSIV seeks to ignite innovation by nurturing early stage companies that demonstrate the potential to positively impact lives through their technology. NSIV generates high quality employment opportunities in life sciences and cleantech, two of the strongest technology clusters in Massachusetts, and supports sustained economic growth in the North Shore region.
“Since opening our doors in 2009, NSIV companies have raised $173 million in grant and equity funding, generated some 270 jobs, provided at least 100 internships for local high school and college students, and filed more than 100 U.S. and foreign patents,” stated Farmer. “With this important grant from the SBA, we’ll further develop our most successful methodologies to improve the success rate for startups. And we’ll share these successful methods – what we believe are the best practices in the field – with other technology incubators around the country.”
About North Shore InnoVentures
North Shore InnoVentures (NSIV) is a non-profit 501(c) (3) business incubator headquartered at the burgeoning cluster of more than sixty life sciences and cleantech businesses at the Cummings Center in Beverly, MA. NSIV is dedicated to accelerating the growth of innovative early-stage life sciences and cleantech businesses and supporting the economic growth of Boston’s North Shore. Its management, board of directors, advisory board, and mentors bring a wealth of entrepreneurship experience in addition to business development and technical expertise. Further support comes from sponsors who contribute marketing, legal, operational and educational services. http://www.nsiv.org.
