Grants

Arizona State's Avnet Innovation Lab to Fund Tech Entrepreneurs

• By Rhea Kelly
• 09/21/16

Arizona State University and global technology distributor Avnet are offering $250,000 in grant funding for technology entrepreneurs. The grants are being awarded through the Avnet Innovation Lab, a startup accelerator launched in May in ASU's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering.

Through the lab's 12- to 18-month program, participants receive monetary support as well as "personal consultation from experts in technology distribution, supply chain management and next-generation technologies" to help take their ideas to the next level, according to a press release. They also have access to dedicated lab space on ASU's Tempe, AZ campus.

Past Avnet Innovation Lab projects include:

• Pit Rho and Twyst's Smart Bag, an Internet of Things-enabled shopping bag that links in-store shopping with online checkout;
• XL Hybrids, a hybrid electrification business working to reduce fuel use and emissions for existing commercial vehicles;
• Digital Bio, creator of a security system that monitors for microbes and other biological agents; and
• SILER, an organization focused on environmentally friendly polymers.

"All of those involved in the Avnet Innovation Lab share a passion for invention," said Cody Friesen, founder and chairman of the Avnet Innovation Lab Advisory Council, ASU associate professor and CEO of Zero Mass Water, in a statement. "As the journey progresses with the next generation of entrepreneurs, we're seeing firsthand the creation of things that never existed before; technologies that never were, now are. Our next round of performers will build upon this legacy, and we're looking forward to supporting an even broader range of innovative technology ideas that will make the world a better place."

The deadline for Avnet Innovation Lab applications is Nov. 14.