Denver City Wire

CBSA is proud to lead the advocacy efforts to reauthorize the Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Programs this session through SB23-066, working with our advanced industries partners and Colorado’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT). The bill is sponsored by Senator Cleave Simpson, Senator Chris Hansen, Representative Shannon Bird, and House Minority Leader Mike Lynch. The first hearing in the Senate Business, Labor, and Technology Committee will take place on Tuesday, January 31.

Colorado’s advanced industries play a vital role in the state’s economic growth and stability. They are research and development (R&D) and engineering-intensive companies, contributing to the state’s thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem. From treatments and cures for disease, to space exploration, to quantum computing, breakthroughs from Colorado will revolutionize every aspect of our lives. Advanced industries account for close to 30% of wage earnings, almost 30% of total sales revenue, and around 35% of the state’s total exports. 

The Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Programs, run by OEDIT, provide critical capital for these innovation industries. The non-dilutive capital fuels success for early-stage companies. 

The state’s seven designated advanced industries include: 

• Advanced Manufacturing 
• Aerospace 
• Bioscience 
• Electronics 
• Energy and Natural Resources (including Cleantech) 
• Infrastructure Engineering 
• Technology and Information

By reauthorizing the Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Programs, SB23-066 would help to ensure Colorado’s R&D-intensive entrepreneurial ecosystem is one of the most dynamic and prosperous in the country. 

PROVEN RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) FOR COLORADO 

The Advanced Industries Accelerator Grant Programs, created in 2013, deliver ROI for Colorado through company creation, high-paying jobs, and follow-on capital. According to OEDIT, the state has awarded $128 Million in the form of 714 awards across all advanced industries. Results include:  

• 4,423 New Jobs Created and 4,527 Jobs Retained 
• 124 New Companies Created 
• 624 Patents Filed 
• $2.5 Billion in Follow-On Capital 

GRANTS SUPPORT ALL STAGES OF GROWTH  

OEDIT offers four grants and two global business programs to support the state’s advanced industries.  

Proof of Concept (POC) Grants: Fund research with commercial applications at the state’s research universities, federal labs, and other labs with valid technology transfer offices. 

Early-Stage Capital and Retention (ESCR) Grants: Fund companies using technologies developed in proof of concept or other early-stage start-ups with viable products that meet a market need. 

Collaborative Infrastructure Grants: Support projects that substantially build or use existing infrastructure to support or enhance the commercialization of advanced industry products, assist startups with mentoring or access to outside capital, or contribute to workforce development.  

Advanced Industry Export Grants: Provide financial assistance for aspiring (new to export) and current (market expansion) Colorado exporters. 

INVESTMENT FOR THE FUTURE 

With the second most educated population and the nation’s third highest concentration of high-tech employees, Colorado receives the fifth-highest amount of venture capital dollars as a percent of State GDP and the sixth highest concentration of Small Business Innovation Research grants. Colorado could become a national and global leader in R&D-intensive innovation with continued state investment. 

SUCCESS STORIES 

State-funded grants accelerate the success of homegrown Colorado companies and support commercialization of advanced products and services to state, national, and international markets.  

In our annual BioScience Colorado magazine, CBSA highlights the importance of state funding to our health innovators, including: 

SiVEC Biotechnologies – Received a $250,000 Early-Stage Capital & Retention Grant to support the development of a bacteria-based delivery platform to efficiently generate and deliver nucleic acids and gene therapies to targeted tissues.  

Think BioScience – Awarded a $250,000 Early-Stage Capital & Retention Grant, which helped attract additional funding. The company closed a $17 million seed round in 2022.  

Aspero Medical – Received two $250,000 Early-Stage Capital & Retention Grants to advance the development of screening technologies for gastroenterologists.  

LightDeck Diagnostics – Awarded a $250,000 Early-Stage Capital & Retention Grant, which provided needed funds for clinical studies of its portable device. Company was acquired by Heska in 2022.  

Gates Biomanufacturing Facility – Received two Collaborative Infrastructure Grants to support research and upgrade its infrastructure to qualify as a custom Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) facility. 

Mighty Oak Medical – Received a $250,000 Early-Stage Capital & Retention Grant that financed the validation research and testing required to achieve 510(k) clearance from the FDA. 

Original source can be found here.