California Technology Council

Innovation proposals in Biden's COVID plan would provide emergency, long-term assistance: Last week, the incoming Biden administration announced an American Rescue Plan to address immediate health and economic threats from COVID-19. On the economic side, the plan goes further than immediate relief and begins to address some longer-term strength and resilience concerns. Among other provisions, it would provide $35 billion for a new business finance program that support venture... Read more Tags: coronavirus, white house

Women and VC: Despite some progress, women-founded and -led companies hit harder by 2020 pandemic: While venture capital (VC) deal activity by women-(co)founded and women-led companies has increased over the last 15 years by some metrics, a new report indicates that the 2020 pandemic and global recession impacted these companies more than companies founded and led by men. Read more Tags: vc, venture capital, women

Key Biden nominees have background in economic development initiatives: President Joe Biden’s nominees to economic and energy roles have experience with regional growth initiatives. Readers of the Digest may be familiar with some of the names, as we have covered their activities in their previous roles. The nominees of the president’s economic team include former Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, nominated to lead the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Don Graves as... Read more Tags: white house, federal agency

$2M in STEM Challenge Grants awarded: The Economic Development Administration (EDA) has announced the seven recipients of the inaugural STEM Talent Challenge, awarding a total of $2 million in grants through the inaugural STEM Talent Challenge, which aims to boost local science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) talent. Read more Tags: eda, stem, grants

SBA announces first L2M winners, Tibbetts Awards: The U.S. Small Business Administration has announced the winners of two award programs. The Lab to Market (L2M) competition was launched in September and recognizes organizations, programs and ideas that support R&D innovation ecosytems, particularly those focused on underrepresented communities and pandemic responses. SBA also announced recipients of the annual Tibbetts Awards, which... Read more Tags: awards, sba