Tech startups to vie for up to $50M in NYS grants
Farmingdale State College hosted a meeting this month to organize the annual funding competition for Long Island startups that are focused on biotechnology, health technology and medical devices. Credit: Howard Schnapp
The state has taken the first steps toward establishing an annual funding competition for Long Island startups that are focused on biotechnology, health technology and medical devices, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.
About 70 industry experts met at Farmingdale State College on Aug. 17 to provide advice about the ground rules for the competition and what type of group should run it. The meeting was organized by Empire State Development, the state’s primary business aid agency, ESD spokeswoman Emily Mijatovic told Newsday.
The experts’ suggestions will be used by ESD to write the request for proposals that will help identify a potential organizer of the startups contest. “The RFP is expected to be announced before the year’s end,” Mijatovic said.
Up to $50 million in grants are to be awarded over five years. “Details of the first regional competition are not yet finalized,” she said Monday.
The initiative also includes mentoring from Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Stony Brook University and other local institutions for startup executives.
Similar annual competitions are held in Buffalo and for the agricultural industry upstate.
Tom Mariner, executive director of LIBio, a 2-year-old trade association, said Tuesday that the local contest will help startup officials to refine their presentations to investors and to encourage venture capitalists from New York City, Boston and elsewhere to invest on Long Island.
“The whole reason for this competition is to get VCs attracted to our region,” said Mariner, who participated in the Aug. 17 meeting of experts. “We need strong private VC folks here, it’s our biggest weakness.”
In addition, ESD chairman Kevin Law said the startups competition “will attract and grow life sciences organizations — adding to an already impressive roster rooted on Long Island — and will be key to elevating the region’s commercial life-science ecosystem.”
Law touted the economic potential of biotechnology by establishing a precursor of LIBio in 2016 when he served as president and CEO of the Long Island Association business group.
The startups competition is one of three components of the new Long Island Investment Fund, or LIIF, which was established in the 2022-23 state budget with a total of $350 million in funding.
Besides the competition, the LIIF will invest $250 million in major construction projects and $50 million in skills training for workers.
James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.
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