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At the end of every month, we recap the biggest tech and startup happenings in Rhode Island. We have an archive of past roundups here. To get this info weekly (Tuesday afternoons, to be exact), sign up for the Rhode Island Inno Beat newsletter.
Let’s take a look.
- Danish energy company Ørsted, which is developing an offshore wind farm in Rhode Island, announced that it and Eversource will invest $4.5 million in industry tech in Rhode Island, the AP reports. Three million of the fund will go to the University of Rhode Island and $1.5 million will go to the Rhode Island Commerce Corp. and Rhode Island's Labor Department.
- For the second time, the University of Rhode Island’s School of Education has received a National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship, the Providence Journal reports. Worth $1.2 million, it will help "recruit and train teachers of science and mathematics over the next five years," as well as provide $15,000 in scholarships towards 20 juniors and seniors with a math or science major. That's in addition to a $35,000 provision towards an individual with "a math, science or engineering background who wants to become a teacher.”
- The Rhode Island Business Competition has announced the semi-finalists of its annual competition, which will take place in May. The 12 startups include goTeff, Cloud Agronomics and Uproot, and were chosen from a pool of 68 applicants and represent a host of different industries.
- Ethan Binder, co-founder of the P2P student tutoring platform GoPeer, won $1,000 at the National Blended & Personalized Learning Conferences’ Shark Tank Pitch Event. "We plan to use the funds to support our ability to bring affordable and personalized near-peer tutoring to students who need to reach their full academic potential," Binder said.
- Pawtucket's St. Raphael Academy has earned the distinction of being a "STEAM academy" from Roger Williams University, Providence Business News reports. It will be the first high school in the state to receive such a title.
- Providence's Hasbro Children's Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital and Bradley Hospital has announced a partnership that looks to serve patients "with complex conditions or behavioral health issues," the Providence Business News reports.
- After nearly a month, Tech Madness has finally come to a close. After just under 1,900 votes (a new record!) wind turbine company Aquanis took this year’s crown, beating competitor Feast & Fettle by almost 400 votes.The company joins last year’s inaugural tech winner, Sproutel, in the pantheon of former Tech Madness champions. Tech Madness is our reader-driven bracket competition (like March Madness) that aims to champion and highlight 32 local startups, which face off bracket-style. See the whole bracket here. When voting, we encouraged voters to ask themselves, “Who would I invest in?”
- The call for makers for this year’s annual Providence Mini Maker Faire is officially open, with the second round of applications for booth exhibits due May 17. Others interested in getting involved can also sign up to volunteer.
- The U.S. News and World Report has debuted its newest list of the 125 best places to llve in the U.S., and Providence has scored number 91. Its ranking beat cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Austin, Texas took the number one spot.
- Rhode Island is in a unique geographic area in that it is close to two major cities with considerable VC resources, Boston and New York. And while the Ocean State does have its share of funding entities, a consistent critique of the ecosystem is that it currently doesn’t have enough. We’re checking in with area founders who chose to bootstrap their companies to both better understand the move as well as the state’s fundraising landscape. First up is Anne Holland, who helped establish a half dozen media brands including events, business data services, magazines and daily news services.
