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innovation DAILY

Here we highlight selected innovation related articles from around the world on a daily basis.  These articles related to innovation and funding for innovative companies, and best practices for innovation based economic development.

This GTM Leader Turned Investor Crowdsources Early Lessons From Stripe Figma More First Round Review

When Meka Asonye first started his career, he was laser focused on talent development, on spotting potential key players and giving them a shot at the big leagues — and we mean that literally. He wasn’t leading startup recruiting, but rather managing Minor League operations for the Cleveland Indians and advising their GM on roster and payroll allocation through advanced statistical analysis.

Image: https://review.firstround.com

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PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN) in partnership with the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC), announced B.Labs—a Life Science incubator at Cira Centre directly adjacent to Brandywine’s 14 acre $3.5 billion Schuylkill Yards neighborhood in University City, Philadelphia. B.Labs will provide high quality innovation, collaboration, and research space that creates growth capacity for start-up, early-stage, fast-growing, and established Life Science industry leaders. Capitalizing on University City’s intense demand for flexible, plug & play lab and research space, the 50,000 SF B.Labs will commence construction immediately with an opening date scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2021.

 

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TORONTO — Canadian venture capital investments totalled $4.4 billion in 2020, their second-highest level on record, according to a new report.

The Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association says there were 509 deals done across the country last year.

The total dollar value of the deals was second only to 2019 when there were 560 deals done worth a total of $6.2 billion.

Image: https://www.delta-optimist.com

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While the major real estate industry players have been making headlines with a new SPAC announcement seemingly every other day, you may have missed that some of them have their own internal venture capital firms to invest in early-stage proptech companies.

What does that mean, and why are real estate firms launching their own corporate venture capital arms to invest in proptech?

 

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small business - Box on table getting shipped.

I grew up in poverty in upstate New York, but I was lucky enough to study engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. I founded a company that went public when I was 28, and I used that wealth to invest in startups.

It’s been exhilarating to watch many founders flourish, but when I return to upstate New York, the desolate remains of long-closed factories remind me of the sectors that the tech revolution never reached.

 

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With a new funding source Notre Dame startups bring millions of dollars to the South Bend Elkhart region News Notre Dame News University of Notre Dame

One of the largest challenges facing tech startup companies is finding the capital necessary to fine-tune their technology and ultimately launch and scale their company. Thanks to support and encouragement from the University of Notre Dame and the IDEA Center at Notre Dame, a growing number of local startups are tapping into an important funding source that has brought more than $7.5 million to South Bend-Elkhart startups over the past year and a half: the federal government’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

 

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People in room with a leader... one asking question

When you read all those stories about the 1%—or even the top 5% or 10%—how much money do you need to pull in to be in one of those groups? You'll need at least six figures to count yourself among the nation's top earners, according to data published by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in December 2019.

 

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In 2020, Innovation Works’ portfolio companies rose to the challenge of a difficult year. We worked hard to meet their high bar…

We emphasized successful programs and innovated on others to address these extraordinary circumstances:

 

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SCOTTSDALE, AZ — The Association of Entrepreneurship USA is looking for students to apply for its 2021 AFEUSA Student Award Program.

Officials with the organization said they are looking to award students who can showcase their idea, their goals, and what they hope to achieve in the field of entrepreneurship.

"It provides education, resources, and networking opportunities to benefit its members across all 50 states," AFEUSA President Charles Jackson said from his Scottsdale home.

Image: https://www.abc15.com - From Video

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For the longest of time in India, innovation was either tucked away in the R&D centres of government enterprises, academia and the MNEs or was strewn around unorganised markets in the form of the cheap Jugaad. But in the last decade India has seen an unprecedented rise in its innovation ecosystem. With over 35 Unicorns (and counting), India has become the third-largest hub of Unicorns globally, something that is not even remotely replicable by others in similar class of economies (middle-income group). From playing a catch-up game in the post-liberalisation decades to creating genuine innovations that solve real unmet needs and disrupt categories - at scale, India has outperformed despite obvious constraints.

 

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As an entrepreneur, you’re going to battle stress, busyness, and likely even exhaustion from time to time. While these episodes might feel discouraging, they’re not permanent, and you’ll be able to push through and find motivation again. 

The ability to keep up your energy and mental stamina begins with good, healthy habits. Below, a panel of Young Entrepreneur Council members shared habits they adhere to in order to maintain productivity:

Image: https://www.influencive.com

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Critical shortages of essential medicines for children are a serious problem that has only gotten worse during the pandemic. Now, 12 major children’s hospitals and phlow have formed a first-in-kind coalition with hospitals like Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Children’s National Hospital to find solutions for this problem and to look for ways to fix the nation’s broken medical supply chain.

Image: https://www.wcpo.com - From Video

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Enterprise Ireland has opened up the third call for expressions of interest in the agency’s Seed and Venture Capital Scheme.

The scheme is open to venture fund managers focused on early-stage investments, such as backing pre-seed, seed and Series A rounds, supporting companies in Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-up programme and scaling companies.

 

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2021

In the beginning of February 2020, COVID-19 seemed to have little to no impact on venture capital investing in the United States.  Fast forward a few weeks later: concerns quickly spread over the entire industry about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on venture investing, its impact on startup companies and the U.S. economy in general.  Emerging growth companies instantly went into “conserve cash mode” and applied for PPP loans.

 

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Green energy investment is hot again in the US. To some, the new boom will raise the spectre of the clean-tech bust that followed a streak of exuberance a decade ago. But there are reasons to believe that this time the trend is no bubble or mirage. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, there was an explosion of investment in clean technology—renewable energy, plus other technologies to reduce carbon emissions. At first, the money came largely from venture capitalists (VCs), but then the federal government stepped in and began providing cheap loans and subsidies. Then in 2011, solar manufacturer Solyndra spectacularly failed, causing an immense political backlash. And that was only the most prominent failure; overall, investors lost about $25 billion when the sector crashed. Money dried up fast. For years, “clean tech" was a dirty word for VCs.

Image: We’re past the ‘trough of disillusionment’ with clean-tech. (Photo: Bloomberg)

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Bobby Stuckey flipped through receipts this month, surprised to see a huge increase in cocktail sales, the highest in the 17-year history of his restaurant, even though the bar section has been closed. The septuagenarians are back.

“Every night we are seeing another couple or a pair of couples in the dining room, and they feel so much relief,” said Mr. Stuckey, the owner of Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colo. “Covid was hard on everybody, but you can’t even think of the emotional toll in this group. They haven’t gone out. They want to have the complete experience. It is just joyful to see them again.”

 

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pittsburgh, PA - View from the Baseball Field.

Why is San Francisco doing so much better than Detroit? I know that sounds like a silly question, or at least one that requires no special brainpower to answer. San Francisco is a beautiful city with a gorgeous ocean setting and two world-class universities to attract talented people who find it appealing to live there. Detroit has no scenic advantages and has for most of its life been utterly dependent on one rustbelt industry that has largely left, forcing massive unemployment and poverty. You can make the same inquiry about Seattle and Cleveland, and not have to dig very hard for a solution. Seattle became the take-off city for Amazon, Microsoft and a host of other high-tech businesses that grew up around them. Cleveland had no such luck.

 

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