Citizen Portal
Sign In

Startup and tech innovation pilots seek continued funding to accelerate SBIR conversions and ecosystem events

Utah Legislature — Economic and Community Development Appropriation Subcommittee · February 2, 2026

Loading...

AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Presenters for Utah Tech Week and the Utah Technology Innovation Funding Program asked the subcommittee to support grassroots startup activation and a nonrecourse loan program: Utah Tech Week highlighted a $250,000 operating budget for a 20,000‑attendee event, and the Nucleus Grow nonrecourse loan program requested $500,001 one‑time to support SBIR/STTR phase‑2 scaling.

The subcommittee heard two related requests aimed at strengthening Utah’s early‑stage technology ecosystem.

Trent Mano (Convoy Ventures) described Utah Tech Week as an accessible, grassroots set of events that drew about 20,000 attendees last year and a mix of venture capitalists, founders and nonprofits. Presenters said the event operates on a modest budget (about $250,000 historically) and argued the week brings tens of millions in investor activity to Utah companies and provides a low‑cost stage for smaller founders.

Separately, Linda Cabrales (Nucleus Grow) outlined the Utah Technology Innovation Funding Program, a nonrecourse loan program that supports companies that have won federal SBIR/STTR phase‑1 awards and seek phase‑2 awards or commercialization. She asked for $500,001 one‑time to continue the pilot, described prior leverage (29 loans and follow‑on federal awards) and said several portfolio firms were nearing repayment, enabling the fund to be recycled.

Lawmakers asked about repayment requirements, eligibility criteria and examples of portfolio success; presenters cited a range of technology use cases, from 3‑D imaging in pediatric surgery to sensors embedded in shoe soles used by the U.S. Army. No appropriation decision occurred in the hearing.