41 Virginia-based research projects will receive financial support from this state-backed fund

The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) announced Thursday that it has selected 41 Virginia-based research projects to receive funding awards from its Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF). Virginia Governor Ralph Northam made the announcement that the fund is awarding a total of $2.51 million in funding support from CRCF for these ventures.

Congrats to #CRCF FY2019 Award Winners = Moving #research #commercialization opportunities forward Check out website links posted this year Read about the cool ideas, initiatives, people, teams & organizations who are making big things happen in #VA https://t.co/i0sUNVRIYj #Ideas pic.twitter.com/5S7Ahchb80

— Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (CIT) (@VirginiaIPC) June 6, 2019

This initiative was launched to continue to support projects in Virginia focused on specific industry areas. CIT started accepting proposals back in October for ventures aligned with one of these sectors: cybersecurity, clean energy, life sciences, data analytics and unmanned systems.

“The Commonwealth will continue to deliver programs that facilitate bringing pioneering technologies and ideas to market and create a culture where entrepreneurs will thrive. I congratulate this year’s award recipients and thank them for helping develop solutions to some of our most pressing challenges in Virginia, across the country, and around the world,” Gov. Northam said in a statement.

Since its inception in 2012, CIT reported that the fund has dished out 350 awards, totaling nearly $28 million in funding. Some of the projects receiving funding are coming from the state’s local universities, including George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia. Read here for a full list of the 2019 award recipients. The exact award amounts for each project were not disclosed.

“CRCF funding is an important part of the research commercialization and development process. The people—individuals, teams, and organizations—who have received awards this year have the potential to contribute great things globally, and benefit the state of Virginia from an economic development perspective for years to come,” Virginia’s Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball said in the press release.