$12 million green initiative to promote clean energy innovation

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration recently announced the six winners of the i6 Green Challenge, an initiative to drive technology commercialization and entrepreneurship in support of a green innovation economy, increased U.S. competitiveness and new jobs.

Winners

Projects in Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, New England and Washington will each receive up to $1 million from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration and up to $6 million in additional funding and technical assistance from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation and Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology and United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Winning i6 Green applicants will support emerging technology-based businesses as they mature and demonstrate their market potential, making them more attractive to investors and helping entrepreneurs turn their ideas and innovations into businesses.

First announced at the White House launch of Startup America in January, i6 Green follows last year’s inaugural i6 Challenge, which focused on accelerating high-growth entrepreneurship in the U.S.

Currently

This year’s competition focuses on promoting Proof of Concept Centers methodologies, which support all aspects of the entrepreneurship process, from assisting with technology feasibility and business plan development, to providing access to early-stage capital and mentors that can offer critical guidance to innovators.

The winning projects of the i6 Green Challenge announced today include:

• Ames, Iowa: Iowa Innovation Network i6 Green Project.

• Holland, Mich.: Proof of Concept Center for Green Chemistry Scale-up.

• New England: iGreen New England Partnership.

• Orlando, Fla.: Igniting Innovation (I2) Cleantech Acceleration Network.

• Ruston, La.: Louisiana Tech Proof of Concept Center.

• Washington state: Washington Clean Energy Partnership Project.