The objective of the Technology & Innovation Ecosystem program is to advance technology and innovation sector projects or initiatives that will contribute to a competitive advantage for existing and emerging industry clusters in Massachusetts, helping drive job growth, business expansion, workforce development, and the development of new tech and innovation firms. The program is funded through the Scientific and Technology Research and Development Matching Grant Fund (Mass. Gen. Laws Chapter 40J, Sec. 4G) and was officially launched in late February 2022.
Application
Applicants are encouraged to notify the Innovation Institute of their interest to apply and are asked to submit a preliminary concept paper prior to submitting a full application.
Awarded Projects
- Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance - Nearly $2 million awarded to aid climate resiliency on Cape Cod. The project will convene the largest cooperative network of fishing boats and environmental sensors in the country to study rising temperatures and boost the local blue tech economy. Read the press release.
- UMass Chan Medical School - a $555,000 grant to support the establishment of the Health AI Assurance Laboratory located at UMass Chan Medical School and run in partnership with Bedford-based MITRE Corporation. The lab will use cutting-edge tools to develop infrastructure and processes for the evaluation of AI-enabled solutions in the health domain. It is also supported with $137,000 in matching investments from the private sector. Read the press release.
- Mansfield Bio-Incubator – a two-year, $800,000 grant to support growing companies working to innovate in cell and gene therapy, and 3D culture technology. This will boost biomanufacturing in the region, helping respond to increased demand from the Bio-Incubator's existing members and to scale-up support for new entrepreneurs in Southeastern Massachusetts. Read the press release.
- Western New England University (WNE) - $1.1 million investment to fund a three-year project for the establishment of a research and training cluster in advanced robotic welding technologies. The award will support a collaborative project between WNE’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing Systems (CAMS) that will work with Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and local industry partners to grow the advanced welding cluster and deliver new highly skilled workers to employers in the region. Read the press release.
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) - a nearly $2 million grant to help build a 10,000 square foot, cutting-edge research and development facility focused on the design, production, and understanding of autonomous systems. The digital infrastructure in the new facility will allow for hybrid modeling and simulation, using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) tools. Read the press release.
- The MITRE Corporation - $2 million grant to create BlueTech OCEAN (Open Collaborative Experimentation and Acceleration Network), a two-year project that will boost the state’s global leadership in ocean science, marine robotics, clean energy, and other game-changing marine industries. Read the press release.
- Western New England University (WNE) - $1.37 million project to establish an incubator for fintech startups across the state, with an initial focus on those located in Western Mass. WNE’s project partners include M. Scott Investment Services of East Longmeadow, which will work with the FinTech Incubator to develop an AI-driven investment portfolio management system. Read the press release.
- QUBIC Labs - $4.5 million, three-year project to create an interface with the Algorand blockchain. The award will support infrastructure investments at QUBIC that will provide startups with access to hardware and custom software development tool kits developed by Boston-based Algorand. Read the press release.