The city of Elk Grove has approved cash grants to two of its startup companies, Core Impact and Tiami Networks.
Core Impact, which makes smart wearables that track athletic efficiency, will get $20,000, and Tiami Networks, which works on 5G wireless communications networks, will get $15,000.
“When we created our Startup Elk Grove Incentive Program, the goal was to identify and support innovative Elk Grove-based startups with high growth potential,” said Darrell Doan, Elk Grove economic development director, in a news release.
These are the latest such grants under the Startup Elk Grove Incentive Program, which launched in 2019. The other grants were a $75,000 grant to EyeRate in 2020; to coworking company InnoGrove for $47,500 and to transportation technology company Sensor Transport for $75,000, both of which were awarded in 2019.
Elk Grove launched the program to attract and retain innovative and entrepreneurial companies to call the city their headquarters.
A 2019 startup, Core Impact developed wearable technology to help athletes, teams and schools better understand what is happening with a player’s muscles during competition. The wearables include an onboard computer and sensors.
Tiami is developing high-performing and secure dual-use systems for 5G networks. Dual use is the ability for the military to share spectrum with 5G cellular networks.
Previous grant recipient EyeRate, the developer of reputation management software that facilitates payments to retail employees for good customer reviews, just raised $4 million in a seed round of venture capital funding led by Folsom-based Moneta Ventures.
When the city made its grant to EyeRate, it had three employees. It's now at about 50 employees.
"These three companies are indicative of the program's success and the entrepreneurial talent in our community that are helping Elk Grove transition to an innovative-based economy," Doan said.
The city money was helpful for EyeRate, said CEO Ray Weisberg. "It allowed us to get office space in Elk Grove."
The company had been operating out of a garage in Elk Grove.
The Startup Elk Grove Incentive Program offers cash grants to companies that will support new jobs or technology opportunities in Elk Grove. The city takes no equity in the companies and the money doesn’t need to be paid back — as long as the companies remain headquartered in Elk Grove. If the company moves out of Elk Grove, or if the company is acquired, the grant becomes a loan.
