Big ideas: TCIP grants give small businesses the opportunity to hit it big.

• Author: Steinbrech, Amy
• Position: Focus

The Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED) recently announced a list of 25 startup companies, whittled down from a much larger group of applicants, as the beneficiaries of its most recent funding competition. These companies, which were selected after a peer review, were awarded a total of $2.5 million in grant money from the state of Utah as part of GOED's Technology Commercialization and Innovation Program (TCIP). The program awards grants to small businesses and university teams to accelerate the commercialization of innovative technologies.

The TCIP grants help companies secure funding at a critical early point in their lifecycle, resulting in long-term success and economic development in Utah.

"Grant monies are used to help very early-stage companies put down roots in Utah and become the next wave of great companies," says Tom Wadsworth, TCIP fund manager. "It's reassuring to see that entrepreneurship continues to be as diverse as our economy." To qualify for the grant, companies must be a small business or a university team that has generated no more than $500,000 in revenue from the proposed new technology. The team also cannot have raised more than $3 million in total prior funding from other sources.

According to Wadsworth, TCIP was initially designed to help foster spin-out companies from university research. The legislature has since recognized great technology and intellectual property does not just come from universities, but also from companies and entrepreneurs. "There are many talented individuals and businesses developing new technologies and products in their garages that are really innovative," says Wadsworth.

This year, the application process was the most competitive in recent history, with 168 applicants requesting more than $16 million--although there was only $2.5 million available. Applicants were vetted by a volunteer panel of industry experts and then scored and ranked. The highest scoring applicants then participated in a second level of vetting, which included a Shark Tank-style 10-minute presentation in front of panelists, who then ranked the presentations and recommended 25 companies to receive the grants.

GOED has contracted a local accelerator company to provide customized mentorship and training to grant recipients, who can also receive free mentoring from the GOED business team consultants.

According to Wadsworth, the legislature recognizes funding is not the only thing that helps companies...