JumpStart Inc. Receives $300,000 From Federal Government’s Regional Innovation Strategies Program; Plans New Fund

JumpStart Inc. of Cleveland is among 42 organizations nationwide that will receive funding through the U.S. Economic Development Administration‘s Regional Innovation Strategiesprogram.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross on Wednesday, Sept. 20, announced in a news releasethat 42 organizations — nonprofits, institutions of higher education and entrepreneurship-focused groups — from 28 states will receive a total of more than $17 million “to create and expand cluster-focused proof-of-concept and commercialization programs, and early-stage seed capital funds.”

More than 200 organizations applied for funding through the Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS)program.

JumpStart is receiving $300,000, according to the news release. The government describes the JumpStart award this way:

“JumpStart will create a $30-$35M JS MedTech Fund focused on biomedical devices, diagnostics and health care IT startups in the Northeast Ohio region in an effort to fill an early-stage capital gap estimated to be as large as $392M in 2014. JumpStart anticipates making 20-25 seed stage investments ranging from $100K to $2M and estimates five-year impacts to include $125m in follow-on investment capital, 25 new business starts, and 210 direct jobs.”

A JumpStart spokesman said in an email on Thursday morning, Sept. 21, that he would provide more information about the fund later in the day.

The RIS funds are distributed in two categories: Seed Fund Support, in which the government says it “provides funding for technical assistance to support the creation, launch, or expansion of equity-based, cluster-focused seed funds that invest regionally-managed risk capital in regionally-based startups with a potential for high growth,” and the i6 Challenge, an initiative that supports “the creation of centers for innovation and entrepreneurship that increase the rate at which innovations, ideas, intellectual property, and research are translated into products, services, viable companies, and, ultimately, jobs.”

The money for JumpStart comes from the Seed Fund Support category, according to the release.

There was one other award to an Ohio-based organization. The government said the Greater Hamilton Center for Business and Technology, near Cincinnati, is receiving $499,920 for a project that will “allow the Hamilton Mill (a small business incubator) and University of Cincinnati to expand, execute, and market specific programs to enhance the ability of their incubator to support the regional economy, focused on startup manufacturing and smarter city initiatives throughout the Greater Hamilton Region in Southwestern Ohio.”

The RIS program is authorized through the America COMPETES reauthorization Act of 2010. It has received dedicated appropriations since fiscal year 2014.

This story originally appeared on Crain’s Cleveland Business.