VIPC Awards Commonwealth Commercialization Fund Grant to William & Mary for Parkinson’s Detection Innovation
CCF grants support startups, critical early technology testing and market validation efforts
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, UNITED STATES, August 17, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ — The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) today announced that William & Mary has been awarded a Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) grant of $126,000 to support the creation of a university spinout focused on an innovative product for sufferers of Parkinson’s Disease. VIPC’s CCF programs have distributed more than $51 million to Virginia-based startups, entrepreneurs and university-based inventors since 2012.
William & Mary is a public research university based in Williamsburg, Va. This CCF grant will be used to commercialize technology that provides early detection of freezing of gait in Parkinson’s Disease patients, thus preventing falls. The funding will support Ken Koltermann as an Entrepreneurship Fellow as he forms a startup company to commercialize technology that he co-invented along with Dr. Gang Zhou, professor of Computer Science at William & Mary, Dr. Leslie Cloud at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, and Dr. Ingrid Pretzer-Aboff at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing. This grant builds on a previous award from CCF to Dr. Gang Zhou’s lab to develop the core technology.
“We are very grateful to VIPC for this funding, which is instrumental in building a company to commercialize this innovative technology and improve quality of life for people with Parkinson’s Disease,” said Jason McDevitt, Director of Technology Transfer Office at William & Mary.
“We are thrilled to receive a CCF grant from VIPC,” said Erica Lawler, Office of Sponsored Programs at William & Mary. “At William & Mary, we are excited to work to develop innovative technology to help those suffering from Parkinson’s Disease.”
“We are pleased to award a CCF grant to William & Mary,” said Hina Mehta, VIPC’s Director for University Programs. “VIPC’s CCF higher education grant programs play an important role in getting funding to entrepreneurially-minded university researchers, as they work to take innovations from lab to market. We are proud to support this effort to bring this easy-to-use and life-extending solution to individuals with Parkinson’s Disease.”
About the Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF)
VIPC’s Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) awards grant funding on a rolling basis to Virginia’s small businesses and university-based innovators. The CCF Higher Education grant program seeks to fund high-potential Virginia-based academic research teams that are developing technologies with strong commercial potential. The grants support early technology and market validation efforts such as customer discovery, market research, business model validation, development of prototypes or a minimum viable product (MVP), customer pilots, intellectual property protection, team development, and more. For more information on funding opportunities and eligibility requirements, or to apply, visit the CCF pages at www.VirginiaIPC.org.
About Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC)
VIPC: Connecting innovators with opportunities. As the nonprofit operations arm of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA), VIPC is the commercialization and seed stage economic development driver in the Commonwealth that leads funding, infrastructure, and policy initiatives to support Virginia’s innovators, entrepreneurs, startups, and market development strategies. VIPC collaborates with local, regional, state, and federal partners to support the expansion and diversification of Virginia’s economy.
Programs include: Virginia Venture Partners (VVP) | VVP Fund of Funds (SSBCI) | Virginia Founders Fund (VFF) |Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) | Petersburg Founders Fund (PFF) | Smart Communities | The Virginia Smart Community Testbed | The Virginia Unmanned Systems Center | Virginia Advanced Air Mobility Alliance (VAAMA) | The Public Safety Innovation Center |Entrepreneurial Ecosystems | Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) | Federal Funding Assistance Program (FFAP) for SBIR & STTR | University Partnerships | Startup Company Mentoring & Engagement. For more information, please visit www.VirginiaIPC.org. Follow VIPC on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Angela Costello, Vice President of Communications
Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC)
angela.costello@VirginiaIPC.org
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