FUELING THE FUTURE: $15M innovation hub | EV startup to go public | Data science & materials research
- ANN ARBOR, MI—The NSF has established a Great Lakes Innovation Corps Hub that is led by the University of Michigan and involves 11 universities in eight states. The $15 million hub is one of three across the country that NSF has announced as it continues to evolve the I-Corps program it launched a decade ago.
- DETROIT—Rivian, an electric vehicle startup, has filed to become a publicly traded company. The IPO is expected to happen after the Securities and Exchange Commission completes its review. Bloomberg reported the company is eyeing an $80 billion valuation.
- CLEVELAND, PITTSBURGH—Case Western Reserve University and the University of Pittsburgh will launch a joint center this fall that uses cutting-edge data science and materials research to help companies make more reliable and durable products. The Center for Materials Data Science for Reliability and Degradation (MDS-Rely) is a $3 million center supported by a $1.5 million grant from the NSF.
- DURHAM, NC—Sidney Hinton, the retired CEO of Wake Forest-based PowerSecure, has raised $2 million in equity for his new startup, Utility Innovation Holdings. The new company is centered around energy storage.