The Wisconsin Alumni Research Fund is allocating a portion of the funding from their Accelerator Program towards projects helping combat the coronavirus pandemic.
The Accelerator Program was originally designed to provide targeted funding and business resources towards inventors to help them further advance their technologies into the marketplace, according to the WARF website’s Accelerator program page. The page says they currently have more than 100 projects and more than 40 commercial agreements.
UW announces new COVID-19 vaccine research, $1.5 million in grants
“[The Accelerator Program is] a $100k fund designed to speed the development of prototypes and other highly deployable concepts that can be commercialized or implemented in 6-12 months,” the COVID-19 Accelerator program page said.
To help combat the coronavirus pandemic, WARF is seeking submissions to their updated Accelerator Challenge, which specifically targets inventors of technologies which could be useful for the coronavirus, according to WARF’s COVID-19 update page.
The FAQ page said that due to the urgency of the pandemic, ideas that are not likely to be developed within 12 months are not eligible for the Accelerator Challenge.
“Our goal with this program is to support technologies that help reduce the spread of the virus, protect essential workers, offer sanitation improvements or offer tools to advance solutions and that can be commercialized or implemented in an accelerated time frame,” the Accelerator Challenge FAQ page said.
Dane County launches grant program to support local businesses
The webpage said WARF is specifically looking for projects such as devices to protect health care workers, sanitation improvements, data analysis search and research tools. Applications are due May 4 and can be accessed here.
WARF has remained open for business during this time, and they have offered a variety of resources for businesses struggling due to the pandemic. WARF has been working with both local and national partners to provide updated information and resources for these businesses, according to their website.
