COLORADO SPRINGS - The Global Business Development division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) announced today that the Catalyst Campus for Technology and Innovation (Catalyst Campus) was approved to receive a $999,789 Collaborative Infrastructure Grant through the Advanced Industries Accelerator Program.
“Colorado innovation centers play a key role in accelerating technology and provide small, innovative businesses a place to bring new solutions to market,” said Michelle Hadwiger, Director of OEDIT’s Global Business Development division. “This Collaborative Infrastructure Grant will support critical work by Catalyst Campus and its partners to address technology barriers, standardize protections for space assets, and enhance cyber defenses, supporting the aerospace industry’s continued growth.”
The Collaborative Infrastructure Grant provides funding for collaborative projects that build infrastructure to fill gaps for the advanced industries in Colorado. Projects must have multiple collaborative public-private partners, broad impacts across one or more advanced industries, and support capability growth within the identified industries through research, technology development, and manufacturing.
The Catalyst Campus and the Space Domain Awareness (SDA) Tools, Applications, and Process (TAP) Lab are developing technology accelerator programs to improve SDA capabilities for national defense and security. The Catalyst Campus’ Mini Catalyst Accelerator and SDA TAP Lab Project Apollo Accelerator will convene commercial teams to address technology barriers and communications across SDA entities, standardize protections for space assets, and enhance cyber defenses.
“The partnership between Catalyst Campus for Technology and Innovation (CCTI) and the Space Domain Awareness (SDA) Tools Application and Process (TAP) lab (SDA TAP Lab) is a natural collaboration, and we are grateful to OEDIT for helping to fund this initiative. Companies engage in the CCTI ecosystem and can matriculate into the SDA TAP Lab’s Project Apollo, maturing emerging technologies in the burgeoning Colorado Springs space economy,” stated Dawn Conley, Senior Executive Director of Catalyst Campus. “Space Domain Awareness is a critical component of our national security, and we are honored to play an important role in securing our space assets as Colorado’s space economy continues to grow.”
The AIA Program received six applications for this grant opportunity. Applications were reviewed by a multi-disciplinary committee of business, technical and financial experts in the seven advanced industries. Final recommendations were approved by the Economic Development Commission on June 20, 2024.
About the Advanced Industries Accelerator Program
The AIA Program was created in 2013 to promote growth and sustainability in Colorado’s advanced industries by driving innovation, accelerating commercialization, encouraging public-private partnerships, increasing access to early stage capital and creating a strong infrastructure that increases the state’s capacity to be globally competitive. AIA encompasses five distinct grant programs: Proof of Concept, Early Stage Capital and Retention, Collaborative Infrastructure, Export Accelerator, and Global Consultant Network.
