BioVentures LLC at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences said Monday that it has secured a nearly $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to support entrepreneurs from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds who are looking to develop health technology and health care businesses in Arkansas.
The four-year, $2,999,997 grant comes from the Minority Business Development Agency’s Capital Readiness Program, which chose BioVentures and 42 other recipients from more than 1,000 applicants.
In a news release, UAMS said it is providing $750,000 in matching funds, bringing the total funding to $3.75 million.
The Capital Readiness Program is a $125 million technical assistance program to help underserved entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses. Grant recipients, including BioVentures President Dr. Kevin Sexton, were invited to the White House on Aug. 4 for a roundtable discussion and ceremony that included remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris.
Sexton will lead an initiative called the Arkansas Collaborative for Technological and Innovative Venture Equality (ACTIVE), a statewide, early-stage technical assistance/incubator focused on socially and economically disadvantaged business owners seeking to develop health technology and health care businesses in Arkansas.
“The Capital Readiness Program grant is a game changer for BioVentures and ACTIVE,” said Sexton, who also holds leadership posts with the UAMS Translational Research Institute and the UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation.
“This initiative could double the number of health technology companies in Arkansas, and those new additions would be from socially and economically disadvantaged businesses,” he said.
UAMS said that with the grant, ACTIVE will serve disadvantaged businesses in health technology and health care. Health technology may include emerging technologies, such as augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, robotics, health care tracking apps, information technology systems, software as a service, digital health and telemedicine, medical imaging, gamification, wearable devices, smart devices, and many other emerging ideas.
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