Incubator start-ups receive funds from state

Eight start-up companies in UConn’s Technology Incubation Program recently received a financial boost totaling nearly $400,000 from the Connecticut Small Business Incubator Program, through the state Department of Economic and Community Development.

“This is an investment that will leverage federal and private research dollars by creating new technology products and companies,” said Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who announced the grants Aug. 22.

“Technology-based small businesses are vital to the growth of Connecticut’s economy, both now and in the future. They offer high wage, high value opportunities to our workers and communities.”

The Technology Incubation Program provides space and services to enhance the success of early-stage firms that have a link to the University. It is part of the University’s Office of Technology Commercialization, which also includes the Center for Science and Technology Commercialization and the UConn R&D Corp.

The program currently houses 15 start-ups, six at Storrs, seven at the Health Center in Farmington, and two at Avery Point.

“The start-up companies are evidence of an evolving economic landscape in Connecticut and the critical role UConn is playing in that transformation,” says Bruce Carlson, managing director of the Office of Technology Commercialization.

“These companies are transforming University discoveries into products that benefit us all.”

In addition to providing start-up companies with the support they need to grow, business incubation also provides a boost to other businesses in the community, he adds.

Carlson notes that the national success rate for companies that graduate from incubators is more than 80 percent, and 87 percent stay in the region of their incubator.