McKee Administration Announces Investments in Innovation for Small Businesses and High-Growth Start

12 organizations awarded more than $820,000 in Network Matching Grants with the RI Department of Administration and in Innovation Vouchers; update provided on Invention Incentive Program awards

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – September 28, 2026 – Governor Dan McKee, Chair of the Rhode Island Commerce Board, announced that the Board awarded $820,364 in funding to 12 organizations through the state’s Innovation Initiatives. Eight organizations were awarded $530,000 through the Network Matching Grant program, and four organizations were awarded $290,364 through the Innovation Voucher program.

“Investing in our local innovators will help keep Rhode Island competitive,” said Governor McKee. “These programs are once again providing critical funding for early-stage companies to innovate, commercialize, hire, and expand—with the goal of fueling long-term economic growth.”

“Rhode Island is home to amazing and dynamic innovators whose ideas can grow into new products and new jobs,” said Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor. “These Commerce programs further strengthen our innovation ecosystem, turning notions into actions and helping businesses grow right here in the Ocean State.”

Network Matching Grants

This cycle of the Network Matching Grant program is being conducted as a collaboration between Commerce and the State of Rhode Island’s Department of Administration (DOA). Grants will provide funding to organizations that provide technical assistance, space on flexible terms, and/or access to capital to small and underserved businesses in Rhode Island, with a targeted focus on supporting firms certified by the state.

“These Network Matching Grant recipients are well-equipped to address the varied needs of Rhode Island’s underserved small businesses,” said Keith Stokes, Associate Director of DEDI. “Whether a business needs a dedicated workspace, access to capital, or guidance with state certification, these programs can help eligible businesses build a foundation for sustainable growth.”

This round of Network Matching Grant recipients include:

Center for Southeast Asians | $65,000 | CSEA will implement a one-year individualized support initiative serving small and underserved Rhode Island businesses. The initiative will combine culturally and linguistically appropriate outreach, individualized technical assistance, business-development programming, and direct financial assistance that will enable the businesses to build their capacity. The project will serve businesses that have operated for at least one year, including long-standing businesses that need assistance modernizing inventory-management, accounting, point-of-sale, cash-register, or mobile-payment systems.

Hope & Main | $50,000 | Hope & Main will enable access to their High-Volume Production Kitchen (HVPK) at West End Kitchens along with hands-on technical assistance that prepares entrepreneurs for wholesale and institutional markets. Businesses receive support with recipe scaling, batch production planning, food safety compliance, packaging, labeling, and unit costing.

Regional Initiative for Business Building and Advancement, Inc. (RIBBA) | $70,000 | RIBBA will deliver an integrated package of technical assistance, flexible workspace, and capital access to businesses across Rhode Island's urban core over 12 months. A large focus of this program will be procurement and bid readiness: helping certified businesses register on Ocean State Procures, understand Master Price Agreement (MPA) opportunities, and prepare competitive bids, moving businesses from certified-but-inactive to genuinely ready to win state contracts.

Rhode Island Fishermen’s Cooperative Federation (RIFCF) | $75,000 | Through this project, RIFCF will build fishermen’s cooperatives, providing training and technical assistance for businesses to develop business plans, support cooperative catch offload staffing, and identify and secure venues and equipment for start-up operations. They will begin with a pilot East Bay Fishermen’s Cooperative, located at Pier 9 in Newport.

Rhode Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce | $70,000 | The proposed Flexible Business Resource & Learning Hub enables a welcoming space where entrepreneurs can meet, work, learn, network, and receive assistance. Through the Flexible Business Resource & Learning Hub, members will have access to free meeting and co-working space, networking opportunities, workshops, classes, technical assistance, and direct connections to organizations that can help their businesses.

Skills for Rhode Island’s Future | $75,000 | SkillsRI will implement two place-based holiday initiatives: 1) Merry on Main, a nine-week holiday retail initiative that will transform vacant storefronts in downtown Woonsocket into shared marketplaces and 2) Providence Place Holiday Space, a shared holiday retail marketplace at Providence Place Mall operating from November 2026 through January 2027.

Social Enterprise Greenhouse | $60,000 | This new program, Grow with Purpose/Crece con Propósito, provides practical, bilingual business training for owners who are past the startup stage but not yet growing. Cohorts of businesses will receive sessions covering financial statements, pricing and cash flow, marketing, hiring, legal and tax compliance, supply chain, and access to capital.

Urban Ventures, Inc. | $65,000 | Through the Certified to Compete Initiative, Urban Ventures will guide Rhode Island small businesses through an individualized pathway to capital-readiness. Services include assistance obtaining or renewing MBE/WBE certification; preparation of financial statements, cash-flow projections, and capital-readiness packages for lenders/grantors; and RFP and bid-response support.

Innovation Vouchers

Commerce’s Innovation Voucher program funds strategic investments in local businesses that catalyze growth through research and development (R&D). There are two types of Innovation Vouchers available: “Knowledge Provider” vouchers, which support partnerships between small businesses and local research institutions (e.g. colleges, universities, or hospitals); and “Manufacturing” vouchers, which support in-house R&D conducted by manufacturing businesses.

This round of Innovation Voucher recipients include:

A-Team Coastal | Portsmouth | $65,364 | Knowledge Provider Voucher | A-Team Coastal will partner with the University of Rhode Island to supply locally cultivated sugar kelp for the development of Marine Regenerated Biopolymer Fibers, a new class of textile fibers made from renewable marine biomass. This project is intended to help create a new high-value market for Rhode Island-grown kelp, strengthen connections between aquaculture and advanced materials development, and expand opportunities for blue economy growth.

Juice Robotics Corporation | Narragansett | $75,000 | Manufacturing Voucher | Juice Robotics is developing a drone-based system that collects underwater data without relying on large ships or heavy equipment. This Innovation Voucher will help advance Juice Robotics’ High Dive platform from a single unit to a coordinated multi-unit system capable of gathering real-time ocean information across wider areas. The project supports the advancement of ocean data collection systems and strengthens Rhode Island’s role in ocean technology innovation.

Low Light Innovations | East Greenwich | $75,000 | Manufacturing Voucher | Low Light Innovations is developing the UH-M, a device that combines analog night vision and thermal sensing into one compact unit to help first responders and defense operators see through darkness, smoke, and water. This Innovation Voucher will fund prototyping and development to merge the two technologies into a single clear view. The work will increase defense and advanced-manufacturing capacity in Rhode Island while creating skilled full-time jobs.

Red Maple LifeSciences | Providence | $75,000 | Knowledge Provider Voucher | Red Maple LifeSciences is partnering with Brown University to advance EnzyLock, a next-generation technology that transforms conventional wound dressings into smart materials that detect bacterial activity and respond locally. This Innovation Voucher will support integrating patented infection-sensing chemistry into commercial wound care products while strengthening Rhode Island’s leadership in translating advanced biomaterials into medical technologies.

Invention Incentive Program

In addition to Network Matching Grant and Innovation Voucher awards, an update was provided to the Board regarding Commerce’s Invention Incentive Program. Sixteen grants totaling $66,407 were awarded. The program helps Rhode Island innovators and small businesses offset the cost of filing a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

“It’s so inspiring to see people embracing the importance of intellectual property. What these inventors have done is so important to Rhode Island, our country, and the world,” said Elizabeth Jackson, Acting Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Northeast Regional Outreach Office.

Patents selected this round included a mix of provisional and nonprovisional applications, representing a broad range of inventions in life sciences, ocean economy, digital technology, medical devices, advanced materials, consumer goods, and pharmaceuticals. Recipients include:

• Adam Kaley ($3,865)
• Bassel Diebo ($5,000)
• Graham Eve ($2,624)
• Theodore Morse ($5,000)
• Sebastian Novoa, co-inventor Conrad Tseung ($4,840)
• Lars Wahlberg ($5,000)
• HA Biosciences LLC ($4,805)
• Juice Robotics Corporation ($5,000)
• Liseva Bio Inc. ($4,422.50)
• Ocean State Physics Services LLC ($3,600)
• Ocean State Sensing LLC ($1,309.50)
• Q2Behave, LLC ($4,226)
• Shellf Life ($4,450)
• Wise Biodesign LLC ($5,000)
• Christopher Sisco ($2,265)
• Sarah Waimon ($5,000)

For more information on Innovation Initiatives and Startup Support, visit CommerceRI.com/business-assistance/innovation.

Rhode Island Media Contact
Giselle Mahoney
Chief of Communications, Executive Office of Commerce
Giselle.Mahoney.CTR@commerce.ri.gov
+1 401 545 0626