Rhode Island Life Science Hub Organization Programming Grant (US)

The Rhode Island Life Science Hub was established in early 2024 with the intention to be the central entity and coordinating organization of life science initiatives on behalf of the state of Rhode Island. The guiding principle of the Hub is to facilitate the development of medical advances and scientific breakthroughs by supporting companies who specialize in the life science fields of biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, biomedical technology, biomanufacturing, cell and gene therapies, biomedical engineering, genomics, diagnostics, and the broader life sciences.

The FY24 budget included a 3-year $45M investment in the life sciences and a portion of these funds will support this Programming Grant program.

Purpose

• The goal of RILSH Organization Programming Grant is to advance their life science industry within the state of Rhode Island through the support of organizations who are uniquely suited to rapidly growing their existing program to support an increasing number of new entrepreneurs, new company creation, and company growth, all with the ultimate goal of improving health and wellness. In addition, the opportunity to support a diverse life science ecosystem is dependent on inclusion of diverse and often under-represented populations. Programming support for organizations who are willing to pilot key programs for these populations will also be critical. Collectively, the RILSH and their partner organizations play a key role in attracting, training, and retaining scientists within their life sciences community.

Funding Information

• The RILSH will invest up to $2.5 million capital to support existing organizations who today offer: entrepreneurship programming, life science knowledge expert networks who work directly with their life science companies, company accelerator programming to advance more businesses including approaches to capital raise, expanding policy efforts to grow a strong RI business community or to address key gaps in their Rhode Island life science ecosystem. Additionally, efforts to enhance diversity in their industry are essential in all aspects of organizational offerings. An organization may submit one application for funding.
• For Scaling Existing Programs: Typical grant requests for this program are up to $250,000 annually for up to two years. Renewal as the end of year one will be accomplished through a written review presented to the RILSH Program Manager and reviewed by the RISLH leadership as well as a brief report presented for approval to the RILSH BOD. The written review will be due 11 months after funding is initiated.
• For New Programming to Address Under-represented Populations: Typical grant requests for this program are up to $50,000 annually for up to two years. Renewal as the end of year one will be accomplished through a written review presented to the RILSH Program Manager and reviewed by the RISLH leadership as well as a brief report presented for approval to the RILSH BOD. The written review will be due 11 months after funding is initiated.
• Anticipated Awards: RILSH expects to fund up to four organizations for programming at scale and up to five organizations for new programming to address under-represented populations. Grantees will be determined based on the quality of the submitted proposals.

Use of the Funds

• Allowable expenditures for use of RILSH funds include: organization operations and general support, programming (existing and expanding), ecosystem capacity building including long-range planning, supporting professional networks involved in advising life science companies, ongoing seminar programs relevant to commercialization and so forth.
• Non-fundable expenses include legal expenses, travel, debt payments, payments to board members, operating costs such as rent and utilities and activities that would ideally be funded by other funding sources.
• Traditional workforce development is not included in this program as the RILSH anticipates a future focus on separate funding for such efforts.
• No requests above the indicated amounts will be awarded.

Target Audience

• Existing organizations who serve the broad life sciences ecosystem here in Rhode Island with scalable programs in place or existing organizations who have identified key gaps in existing programs with special emphasis on under-represented life science populations.

Eligibility Criteria

• Business Types: To qualify for these grants an organization must be an existing legal entity that have either:
  • existing life science programs that have already shown significant benefit to RI-based life science companies and would be eligible for capital funding from the RILSH or
  • proposed development of tailored programming to meet the needs of under-represented life science populations. Successful proposals will demonstrate their ability to scale existing programs with provided funds, develop pilot programming to meet the needs of underrepresented life science populations, define clear milestones throughout the funding period and define metrics which advance their life science industry. Metrics should include the number of new companies launched, the growth of existing companies including new hires and capital dollars raised by supported companies.
• Location Requirements: Organizations should be incorporated in Rhode Island and focused on program delivery to Rhode Island life science companies and entrepreneurs.

Evaluation Criteria

• The RILSH is working on the quantitative metrics to be utilized to demonstrate impact on the life science ecosystem. These will include but are not limited to:
  • Depth and Breadth of Programming o Number of New Staff Hired by Organization o Number of Life Science Entrepreneurs Supported Across Programs
  • Number of Life Science Companies Supported Across Programs (both newly created and existing companies)
  • Capital Raised by Life Science Companies Supported by Programming.

For more information, visit RILSH.