SSTI Digest

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced last week that it is adopting modified criteria in its grant review process beginning on January 25, 2024. The new system will continue to focus on the scientific merit of proposals (i.e., importance, rigor, and feasibility), while de-emphasizing criteria that may introduce bias into the review. New grant applications will be evaluated for whether the applicant demonstrates sufficient expertise and resources, but without considering the reputation of the institution or the investigator.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced the designation of 31 Tech Hubs in regions across the country and 29 Strategy Development Grants. This announcement marks the first phase of the new Tech Hubs program, an economic development initiative authorized in the CHIPS and Science Act and designed to drive regional innovation and job creation by strengthening a region’s capacity to manufacture, commercialize, and deploy technology that will advance American competitiveness.

The administration recently announced that seven regional clean hydrogen hubs have been selected to receive $7 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding. The hubs are located in California, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and West Virginia.

This week’s announcement of seven regional hydrogen hubs and $7 billion in federal money significantly increases spending in a technology that has seen modest private sector investment in hydrogen-related companies. Since 2013, investors—including angel, seed, and early- and later-stage VCs—have invested across $7,849.59 million across 366 deals with 340 companies related to the hydrogen industry sector, according to an SSTI analysis of Pitchbook data. Figure 1 below shows deal counts and capital invested by investment stage, 2000-2023 Q3.

SBA has recently announced four contract awards to small businesses and entrepreneur support organization (ESO) partners, expanding the SBA’s Regional Innovation Clusters (RIC) to 16 hubs nationwide. Two contract awardees are new to the program in 2023, while two others are returning awardees, positioned with new contracts to continue and expand work in their respective regions.

NIH recently announced awards for five Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hubs (REACH) to accelerate the creation of small businesses and the transition of academic research discoveries into products that improve patient care and enhance health. These new REACH hubs will support innovators from diverse personal, educational, and professional backgrounds across 76 non-profit research institutions spanning 12 states.

The third quarter of 2023 continues the venture capital market’s recent two-year decline in investments, investors, and initial public offerings. This puts a squeeze on startups. How helpful investment funding will be to startups in the rest of 2023 and beyond likely depends on whether the downward trends settle in alignment with pre-pandemic activity or continue into a VC-specific recession. Regardless, there could be dire consequences for many companies.

The 2021 BERD dataset reveals the highest level of business R&D spending on record. Since 2015, R&D expenditures have increased by 69% from $356 to $602 billion, representing an average annual growth of $41 billion or 9%. But what industries are contributing the most to this trend? The growth of business R&D in nonmanufacturing industries has far outpaced that of manufacturing industries since 2016, with an average growth of 15% per annum, compared to 6% for manufacturing industries. Nonmanufacturing R&D expenditures have been driven by massive increases in the information sector, among other industries, while chemicals—specifically pharmaceuticals and medicines—have led manufacturing. While nonmanufacturing industries have higher growth rates in their R&D expenditures, they still lag behind manufacturing industries in actual expenditures, but the gap is rapidly closing.

Latino- and Latina-owned businesses represent the fastest growing demographic in the U.S. business ecosystem, growing revenues and creating jobs for all Americans, according to the Stanford Graduate School of Business. The number of Latino/a-owned businesses grew by 34% from 2007 to 2019, while existing businesses grew at a median rate of 25% between 2019 and 2022. Even at these rapid rates, there is still room to grow. Estimates from McKinsey show the potential for Latino/a owners to generate an extra $2.3 trillion in economic benefits, given equal funding opportunities.[1]

Last week, a Senate committee heard Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and National Science Foundation Director Sethuraman Panchanathan discuss CHIPS & Science Act program implementation (similar to a September hearing in the House). Both agency leaders affirmed rapid progress toward making funding announcements on major programs and reminded the committee that more funding is needed to meet the vision Congress defined in its legislation.

How do you explain your work to others? Explore this important and challenging topic with your peers during a TBED Community of Practice webinar. SSTI will share findings about public perception and interpretation of common TBED activities, such as that people think tech transfer means moving files to a new device, and facilitate a discussion with experienced state leaders and the audience about effective strategies to build public awareness and stakeholder support. You’ll log off with new ideas for communicating your work to partners, funders, legislators, and even your family.

An independent selection committee recently announced the incoming board of trustees that are expected to oversee a nonprofit entity that will operate the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC). The NSTC is the core research and development (R&D) component of the Department of Commerce’s CHIPS for America program. The NSTC will be a collaboration hub for members of the entire semiconductor manufacturing and supplier ecosystem. It will accelerate innovation and help lower the cost and time required to bring new technologies to market.