PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Life Science Hub board of directors on Tuesday approved allocating up to $20 million in grant funding to help attract new businesses, foster innovation and support early-stage companies within the state’s growing life sciences sector.
The hub says the grants will support three areas – organization programming, business attraction and matching grants for early-stage companies. The hub says up to $10 million in business attraction grants will be distributed to attract new life sciences companies to Rhode Island and support “significant expansion” for existing such companies. Awards for companies demonstrating job creation commitments and new investments within the state will range between $500,000 to $5 million over two years, the hub says.
The early-stage company matching grants will allocate up to $7.5 million in total to match private sector investments in Rhode Island-based life science companies in their earliest stages. The grants will range from $50,000 to $500,000 per company over two years of until all funds are spent, the hub says, and the companies must demonstrate “recent success in securing investment by private capital.”
Up to $2.5 million in organization programming grants will be awarded to established organizations within the state to grow and scale programs to support entrepreneurs and early-stage companies. The hub says grants will be available for up to $250,000 per year for 2025 and 2026.
“The funding distributed through these three distinct grant programs is designed to address the full spectrum of the life sciences industry – from supporting startups to attracting new companies to the state,” hub Interim President Patrice Milos said in a statement. “Each program has been strategically developed to promote Rhode Island’s life science companies and the growing ecosystem.”
The hub says applications for the business attraction and organization programming grants are anticipated to open in November, with the early-stage company matching grant applications opening in February. More information is expected to be available on
the hub’s website in November.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
