The New Orleans BioInnovation Center (NOBIC) has just received a $500,000 Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program grant that enables the organization to expand startup support programming to assist life sciences entrepreneurs throughout Louisiana.
The three-year grant was awarded under a program within the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE). The new initiative is designed to advance innovation and capacity-building activities across the country through three different types of grants, one of them being the i6 Challenge grants that NOBIC received.
“As America’s ‘Innovation Agency,’ the Commerce Department has a key role to play in supporting the innovators and job creators of tomorrow,” said Secretary Pritzker. “We want to ensure that all entrepreneurs have access to the tools they need to move their ideas and inventions from idea to market. The Regional Innovation Strategies Program competition is designed to advance this mission across the United States, strengthening our economy and our global competitiveness.”
NOBIC is one of only 17 recipients of this nationwide program that received more than 240 applicants in total.
The award will help NOBIC expand their capacity and scale the direct business planning assistance and educational programming already offered to New Orleans entrepreneurs to those developing new drugs, vaccines, medical devices, and other products around the state. This includes scaling the life sciences technology commercialization program as well.
“This grant builds on prior state investments to fund the expansion of our programming and allow us to support more entrepreneurs, new job creation, and economic growth across Louisiana,” said BioInnovation Center President Aaron Miscenich. “Researchers at institutions around the state frequently discover potential new disease treatments, vaccines, and other advances, and this grant will allow us to help more of these entrepreneurs access critical resources, build their business skills, and ensure that these life-saving breakthroughs reach patients.”