The CRCF accelerates Virginia’s economic growth by supporting high-potential technology commercialization projects at Virginia’s public and private institutions of higher education, technology companies, and federal labs and nonprofit research organizations. A single solicitation for approximately $2.5 million will be offered in FY2020, through five programs: Commercialization, SBIR Matching Funds, STTR Matching Funds, Eminent Researcher Recruitment, and Matching Funds.
Since its inception in 2011, CRCF has awarded nearly $28 million dollars in support of early-stage technology development efforts in strategically important industries. This year, applications are invited in clean energy, cybersecurity, data analytics, life sciences, and unmanned systems. More information about these five sectors, programs, eligibility criteria, submission materials, resources, and the solicitation timeline are available now at www.cit.org/initiatives/crcf/fy2020/.
The RFP will remain open until November 6, 2019, the deadline for submitting Letters of Intent (LOIs). Between now and early October, the CRCF team will travel to regions across the Commonwealth to introduce CRCF and the FY2020 round, discuss this year’s LOI process, and answer questions. To find out when we’ll be in a region near you, visit www.cit.org/initiatives/crcf/fy2020/resources/ for the full schedule. Anyone interested in seeking funding this round is encouraged to attend a briefing; it’s a terrific opportunity to learn more about the programs and processes and engage with the team and others in the community through Q&A and networking.
In FY2019, CIT issued one solicitation resulting in 41 awards for $2.51 million. These projects leveraged the Commonwealth’s investment with approximately $6 million in matching funds. CRCF’s portfolio of nearly 350 projects have leveraged more than $72 million in match and, this past year, reported more than $120 million in additional follow-on investments to support further technology advancement.