GRA reports significant impact on university research, start-ups
Thirty years of investment in university research and entrepreneurship is paying big dividends for the State of Georgia, according to metrics released by the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA).
Every $1 the state has invested in GRA’s programs has generated nearly $12 in research grants to public and private universities and in venture capital to university-launched start-up companies, the Alliance showed. All told, research labs and new companies attracted an additional $7.8 billion by leveraging the state’s $661 million investment through GRA since 1990.
An independent nonprofit that expands university research and entrepreneurship in Georgia, GRA helps universities recruit world-class scientists to the state, then funds specialized equipment to advance their research. The scientists, GRA Eminent Scholars, then bring in more public and private research grants.
In 2003, GRA created a venture development program to seed and shape more start-up companies around university inventions in Georgia. Since then, GRA’s investment of $50 million in state money has helped bring $1.6 billion in outside venture capital to the state.
