Virginia Catalyst Funds Bioscience Startups with award of $2.1 Million

The Virginia Catalyst, formerly known as the Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation, recently announced that it has been awarded $2.1 million in grants to four life and bioscience projects in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Awarded as Round 9 of Virginia Catalyst’s continuing mission to stimulate economic development through improving human health and sequentially providing competitive jobs in the region, these grants will be met with over $3 million in matching funds from partner companies. Mike Grisham, CEO of Virginia Catalyst, shares his excitement over the organization’s new endeavor, stating “the critical mass achieved by these collaborations provides Virginia with competitive advantages over other states and has resulted in significant outside capital being invested in Virginia to finance the commercialization of Virginia’s innovations, while creating high-paying jobs for the Commonwealth.”

Through their ninth round of funding, VA Catalyst has awarded 31 grants totaling over $15.9 million, reaching a final $33.4 million with matching funds, along with an additional $138 million in follow-on funding. The awards for each project range from $200- to $800 thousand, and help fund collaborative efforts between industry and Virginia research universities. Read more about Catalyst’s goals and supported companies in the original news article provided by ConnellyWorks, Inc. here.

About Virginia Catalyst- Virginia Biosciences Health Research Corporation (VBHRC), known as Virginia Catalyst, has a vision of advancing life sciences throughout Virginia as a means of addressing large, unmet medical needs to improve human health and to create high-paying jobs throughout the Commonwealth. Funded by the Virginia General Assembly’s General fund, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech, Eastern Virginia Medical School, George Mason University, Old Dominion University, and William and Mary, Virginia Catalyst has funding opportunities to support collaborative projects in the Commonwealth and is home to the Virginia Neuroscience Initiative.