The Utah Science Technology and Research Initiative (USTAR) today announced the selection of its latest round of Technology Acceleration Program (TAP) grant awards. Thirteen companies, including three women-led companies and one rural company, and their technologies were recommended for funding through the competitive grant process that included panel reviews by industry and technical experts before being approved by USTAR’s Governing Authority.
Companies are located in Davis, Iron, Salt Lake, and Utah counties. This latest round of awardees includes projects in the automation and robotics, big data and cybersystems, energy and clean technology, and life science sectors.
“These projects represent innovative ideas with the potential to raise capital, create jobs, form strategic partnerships, and accelerate their technology commercialization to take life changing technology to market,” said Ivy Estabrooke, Ph.D., executive director of USTAR. “The TAP grant provides critical support in helping these companies develop to a stage where they can compete for private capital investments.”
USTAR’s TAP grant complements the organization’s entrepreneur incubation program and provides competitive grants to allow companies to accelerate their technology development. In doing so, the TAP grant prepares companies to compete for private capital, with the ultimate objective of spurring positive economic impact to the state through an increased tax base and creation of high-paying jobs.
Companies that were approved for TAP funding will now go through the contracting phase, with the awards, pending contract negotiation, finalizing in the coming weeks.
