This article originally appeared on SiliconHills.
By: Laura Lorek
At Austin City Hall, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Jay Williams Tuesday announced $15 million in grants for 19 states including $2 million earmarked for Texas with the bulk of that going to organizations in Austin and San Antonio.
“The diversity in programs and regional representation proves that innovation and entrepreneurship are igniting all corners of the country and is a recognized tool for economic growth and resilience,” Williams said during a press conference.
The largest local grant of $500,000 went to the Austin Technology Incubator at the University of Texas at Austin for its Texas Smart Water Innovation Cluster.
The University of Texas at San Antonio’s South-Texas Innovation Partnership Program, known as S-TIPP, received $499,997.
And the Gender Lens Impact Fund at the University of Texas at Austin, led by True Wealth Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests in women-led startups, received $250,000.
The only other Texas recipient was the WERX Foundation of McKinney, Texas. It received $345,895.
Overall, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced 35 organizations in 19 states will receive nearly $15 million focused on startups, early-stage seed capital funds and commercialization programs through the Economic Development Administration’s Regional Innovation Strategies Program.
The $250,000 grant over two years for True Wealth Ventures will go to marketing, sourcing deals and due diligence on deals, said Kerry Rupp, partner in the $20 million venture fund focused on investing in consumer health and sustainable consumer women-led ventures in Texas. The grant is not for money to put into the startups. The fund is raising that separately, she said. True Wealth Ventures has closed on $4.7 million of its $20 million fund and made its first investment of $500,000 into UnaliWear, a smart watch maker for older adults led by Jean Anne Booth.
