The grant from the Economic Development Administration will be matched with $125,000 in local funds from a collaboration that involves LSU's Office of Innovation and Commercialization, Innovation Catalyst and Southern.
Genevieve Silverman, president and CEO of Nexus Louisiana, said the money will be used to offer Ignition 1.0 and Ignition 2.0 classes annually. Ignition 1.0, which was launched in 2021, helps entrepreneurs evaluate the viability of a business idea. Ignition 2.0, which wraps up its first nine-week class Wednesday, guides entrepreneurs through the growth stage.
"The region has not had this kind of continuous technical assistance pathway before," Silverman said. "We want to use these funds to strengthen the programs and add additional capacity."
Along with making the Ignition programs a regular event, the money will launch a new program to help Southern faculty and students commercialize their ideas for technology-focused companies.
The plan is to have Ignition and the Southern program create a pipeline of entrepreneurs who feed into other Nexus programs, such as the Venture Capital assistance program, which gives LSU finance students a chance to apply their skills on short-term company projects.
"The overall goal of this is to help drive the economic recovery and create more high paying jobs in the region," Silverman said.
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