The South Carolina Research Authority has the distinct honor and responsibility to fuel South Carolina’s innovation economy. In 2024, it contributed over $1.33 billion to the state’s economy and supported 6624 South Carolina-based jobs. The average annual salary of these jobs was almost $92,000, 71% higher than the statewide average.
SCRA’s economic impact is accomplished through the work of its programs: Academic Innovations, Facilities, Industry Solutions, and SC Launch, and its investment affiliate, SC Launch, Inc. “The uniqueness of our programs and services allows us to help our customers in several ways and at different stages of their development,” said SCRA President and CEO Bob Quinn. “It’s not uncommon for us to house a startup, fund and advise them, and match them with an industry partner, thus providing them with comprehensive services to help them grow.”
Academic Innovations (AI) helps bring use-inspired research and development from the lab to the marketplace, where it can help more people, advance the quality of life, and create knowledge-based jobs that grow the state’s innovation economy. SCRA Chief Program Officer Russell Cook said, “In line with our mission to fuel South Carolina’s innovation economy, our academic institutions are crucial in creating innovation through use-inspired research and development, solving real-world problems and accelerating economic development.”
Through the three-year SCRA-Academia Collaboration Team (SACT) Grants, the AI program awarded nearly $4 million to South Carolina colleges and universities in 2024. The purpose of the SACT is to provide financial support to develop commercially relevant technology from the state’s colleges and universities. Clemson University, Coastal Carolina University, the College of Charleston, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the University of South Carolina are generating tangible solutions that have the potential to create lasting economic and societal benefits, including life-saving innovations. The projects include cancer vaccines, new ways to treat neuro degenerative diseases, a new burn wound gel, and engineering solutions for global logistics.
Additionally, the AI team supports several SCRA Member Companies affiliated with colleges and universities, notably Clemson’s Apex Orthopaedic Technologies, which developed a system that treats spinal deformity using rib fixation for versatile correction.
SCRA Facilities ensure that the best and brightest innovators have the customized spaces they need to continue working on innovation in South Carolina. Without these specialized facilities, the state risks losing this talent to other states.
Exciting breakthroughs are happening in SCRA’s state-of-the-art facilities equipped with wet labs, research areas, and collaborative spaces. Tenants are working on projects that include molecular diagnostics, digital transformation, advanced materials, drone technologies, artificial intelligence, and robotic manufacturing. The Facilities team is also advancing the state’s innovation economy by growing and attracting life sciences and technology-based companies to South Carolina seeking specialized spaces.
In addition to housing innovators, the Facilities team manages administrative and collaborative spaces for entrepreneurs and founders. SCRA opened a new office on Main Street in Greenville where staff work and collaborate more efficiently with tech startups that are growing their businesses as they are creating higher-paying jobs for the state. “Establishing an SCRA presence in the heart of Greenville allowed us to better engage and serve the economic ecosystem in a more dynamic and direct way. This location is where the founders and startup companies are actively seeking the value-added services and connections that SCRA offers,” said SCRA Director of Facilities Randy Cutts.
Industry Solutions (IS) helps industry partners connect to innovators across the state, thereby addressing industry challenges with technology-based solutions. SCRA Director of Industry Solutions Catherine Hayes said, “After engaging industry leaders to understand their technical needs, we scout the entrepreneurial and academic communities to identify potential solutions and facilitate technology demonstrations and scalable pilot projects.” To de-risk the pilot projects financially, IS co-funds with the industry partners Demonstration Grants to help innovators showcase their capabilities and validate the technology’s scalability. These technology trials can lead to further research, co-development, or strategic partnerships for future business opportunities.
Founder of LifeTagger, Marlon Brown, Co-Founder of LifeTagger, Mitch Smith, SCRA Senior Investment Manager. Photo credit: SCRA.
In 2024, the IS team facilitated a strategic launch for tech startup Tandem Concepts with industry partners Global Partners, Toptech Systems, and Eagle Transport, which are among the fuel industry’s most prominent players. Using a Demonstration Grant, Tandem Concepts proved its capability to digitize fuel loads while removing key manual processes and inputs, leading to a 100% order success rate. Tandem will carry this technology forward, digitizing tens of millions of annual transactions between carriers and terminals.
In support of academic institutions and technology transfer to industry, IS also offers academic Demonstration Grants to facilitate use-inspired research and development projects with industry partners. Working with Boeing, Industry Solutions is supporting Clemson University to evaluate an emerging technology that may reduce operator injury and fatigue in manufacturing.
To address unmet industry needs and expand innovation in the state, IS collaborates with state and local economic development partners to recruit technology companies to South Carolina, providing Relocation Grants and strategic introductions. The IS team helped tech startup Hammer-IMS NV relocate from Belgium to upstate South Carolina, bringing new technology and 20 new high-tech jobs to the state.
The SC Launch Program and SC Launch, Inc. teams coach and advise startups one-on-one and in group settings, where they serve as mentors, panelists, speakers, and judges in numerous accelerator, incubator, and ecosystem partner activities. They also help Member and Portfolio Companies prepare for out-of-state funding opportunities at pitch events such as Launch TN in Nashville, Venture Connect in the Research Triangle area in North Carolina, Seed of the South in Charlotte, Converge South in Winston-Salem, and Venture Atlanta. In 2024, SC Launch, Inc. and the South Carolina Department of Commerce partnered to financially support South Carolina tech startups attending Venture Atlanta. SC Launch and SC Launch, Inc. team members also participated in Venture Atlanta by voting and judging.
The Project Development Fund and Acceleration Grants are the primary funding opportunities for SCRA Member Companies in the SC Launch Program. The size of individual investments made by SC Launch, Inc. typically ranges from $100,000 to $300,000. SC Launch, Inc. can also make second and third investments, together with syndicate partners, in those companies that have demonstrated successful growth. In 2024, SC Launch, Inc. invested $2,200,000 in nine startups, and the SC Launch Program welcomed 24 startups into the program and provided $850,000 in grants. “By successfully leveraging the SC Launch Program, SCRA Member Companies become eligible to be considered for an investment by SC Launch, Inc. and are prepared for the rigorous due diligence process required by venture capital firms in later rounds,” said SCRA Director of Launch Lee MacIlwinen.
SCRA meets its mission of fueling the state’s innovation economy by also teaming with ecosystem partners who are equally committed to growing South Carolina’s innovation economy. Notably, SCRA is a strategic partner with the South Carolina Department of Commerce for the federally funded SC Nexus Tech Hub initiative. SCRA is leading its Entrepreneurship and Innovation Exchange project, which is designed to provide comprehensive business, technical, and hands-on training; leverage and connect assets of existing entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems across the SC NEXUS hub; and deploy additional capital and incentives to support new and growing startups.
SCRA has also partnered with the University of North Carolina Charlotte, Clemson University, and others on the National Science Foundation-funded Carolinas Engine for Grid Modernization initiative, which is growing an advanced energy innovation ecosystem in South Carolina and North Carolina.
SCRA is able to accomplish its mission of fueling the state’s innovation economy mainly through its tax credit program, the Industry Partnership Fund, which welcomes any individual or business to redirect their state taxes to the Fund instead of paying them to the South Carolina Department of Revenue. Key contributors include Comporium, Elizabeth N. Barrett CPA, IAG Funding, and Motley Rice.
