Center for Advancing Innovation, OpenGrants Partner

The Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) is a non-profit based out of the DC-metro area and is a partner of OpenGrants. They have a unique challenge-accelerator program that marries promising tax-payer funded inventions with talent and capital.

Their mission is to identify and advance breakthrough inventions by launching startups. CAI’s platform rapidly scales startups using proven methods created by Rosemarie Truman, Founder and CEO of CAI and former head of IBM’s Global Innovation Practice.

CAI has been named as the “Tinder for Startups” by Nature, the “Kickstarter for IP” by Wired, and a “Powerful Innovation Toolkit” by the Obama White House.

They’ll be moderating a panel at SXSW called “Injecting Artists into High-Tech Startups.” The panel will feature CAI’s Rosemarie Truman, Silicon Valley-based philanthropist and Founder and CEO of Digging Deep, Sheri Sobrato, as well as CODEME Founder Jordan Gray. Artists are known to provoke creativity, break boundaries, solve puzzles, evoke emotion and generate empathy. The panel will share how CAI cultivates the art spirit to make startups more creative, disruptive, and poised for long-term success.

Learn more and get involved with CAI on their website, and follow the panel on social media with #ArtTechSXSW21.