CTNext, the state-backed program to support and develop startups in Connecticut, said it has awarded $54,000 to six companies and entrepreneurs.
The winners include Hamden’s Aria Neurosciences, which is developing an Alzheimer’s drug; East Hampton’s Engel Power, which is developing a power system that uses waste raw material as fuel; New Haven’s Fitscript, which is building an exercise instruction user interface; Guilford’s GestVision, which is developing a test for a fatal pregnancy-related condition; and New Haven’s Trinity Mobile Networks, which is designing a system that offloads mobile data demand through Wi-Fi hotspots.
Each company received an award of $10,000, and Fitscript got an extra $2,000 for being a crowd favorite. GestVision and Trinity got an extra $1,000 each from the Angel Investment Forum.
The so-called Entrepreneur Innovation Awards, announced at an event last week, bring the CTNext program’s 2014 funding total to $216,000. The program is administered by Connecticut Innovations, which recently ran into a funding gap with the state’s Bond Commission.
Despite the troubles, the quasi-public agency decided to move ahead with the EIA awards this month.
