UpTech, a Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky area-based business accelerator committed to funding 50 early-stage informatics companies from the United States and abroad, has opened the application process.
A partnership of Vision 2015, Campbell County Economic Progress Authority (CCEPA), Tri-County Economic Development Corporation (Tri-ED), and Northern Kentucky University, UpTech will invest up to $100,000 into each of the 50 winning startup companies operating in five sectors of informatics:
– health information technology,
– cloud computing virtualization,
– business analytics,
– digital media, and
– cyber security.
UpTech will also provide each business with six months of free, premium office space, along with essential business support from financial, law, accounting, and marketing/public relations firms. In addition, winners will also receive support from faculty, staff and graduate assistants and two student interns per company from Northern Kentucky University’s College of Informatics along with on-campus informatics labs and facilities for collaboration, events, and seminars.
The selection process will consist of five rounds of submissions, with each round having 10 companies as winners.
The rounds will be completed over the next three to five years, with a total of 50 startups obtaining a portion of the $5m equity fund. Contest judges include national informatics, business and investment experts from companies such as CBS, Cisco, Dell, Procter & Gamble, SAP, Scripps, and Summus Software.
The first round applications are due by March 9, and the winners will be announced in mid-April 2012.
More information and an entry application for UpTech can be found at http://www.uptechideas.org.
FinSMEs
02/02/2012