Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC) is a public-private partnership created by the Missouri General Assembly to promote entrepreneurship and foster the growth of new and emerging high-tech companies. As a public-private partnership, we have the opportunity to receive direct appropriations within the annual state fiscal budget to provide state funding to support our mission.
For fiscal year 2023 (July 1st, 2022 through June 30th, 2023), MTC was appropriated and received spending authority for $23.5M of funding from the state of Missouri to be used to catalyze innovation and entrepreneurship throughout the state. This appropriation represented $15M for the establishment of the Advanced Manufacturing Resiliency Grant and $8.5M for MTC to fund active programs and administrative costs. The $8.5M in general revenue appropriation represented a significant increase from our fiscal year 2022 ($3M) and fiscal year 2021 ($1M) appropriations.
In response to increased state funding and approval to manage the federal SSBCI program on behalf of the state, MTC awarded over $26M in funding for fiscal year 2023, which represents nearly 7.5 times additional funds awarded compared to fiscal years 2022 and 2021. This includes MTC awarding over $3M in competitive grants to expand the state’s entrepreneurial capacity between our MOBEC and Physical Infrastructure Grant Programs and over $7M in equity-based investment allocations through our state-sponsored venture capital program (IDEA Fund).
| FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | |
| General Revenue Funding Received | $970,000 | $2,910,000 | $8,245,000 |
| Special Appropriations | $0 | $0 | $15,000,000 |
| Total State Funding Received | $970,000 | $2,910,000 | $23,245,000 |
| Year over Year Increase | 300% | 799% | |
| Innovation Centers & Missouri Enterprise | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,325,000 |
| MOBEC Grant Program | $1,018,049 | $1,113,334 | $2,017,927 |
| IDEA Fund Co-Investment Program | $1,550,000 | $1,500,000 | $7,025,000 |
| Advanced Manufacturing Grant Program | $14,850,000 | ||
| Physical Infrastructure Grant Program | $1,099,178 | ||
| Total Funding Awarded | $3,568,049 | $3,613,334 | $26,317,105 |
| Year over Year Increase | 101% | 728% | |
I would like to take a moment to thank some people who are directly responsible for MTC being able to greatly increase our financial support of the state’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Specifically:
- The Governor’s Office, the General Assembly, the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the House Budget Committee for providing MTC with the state funding necessary to begin to implement the strategies and recommendations identified in the Catalyzing Innovation report published spring of 2022.
- The MTC staff for working extremely hard to award the funding across all of our programs in an efficient yet responsible manner and through fair and equitable competitive processes.
- The MTC Board of Directors for always supporting MTC staff and me, and most importantly for being engaged in the organization as a whole and throughout multiple review and award processes.
- Lastly, the members of the state’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems. Without innovative new entrepreneurial support programs and dedicated entrepreneurs, we wouldn’t have the high-quality grant and direct investment opportunities to properly leverage state and federal funding MTC has been entrusted with to deploy across the state.
I encourage our stakeholders, especially those who received funding from MTC in fiscal year 2023, to reach out to their elected officials and inform them one of their constituents received funding from MTC and that you are appreciative of the increased state funding to MTC for fiscal year 2023 and 2024.
Looking ahead, MTC was appropriated approximately $15M in the state’s fiscal year 2024 budget, so we will be introducing new programs and continuing to increase funding awarded throughout the fiscal year.
Looking ahead in 2023:
- Launch of the Regional Node Planning Grant (by late August)
- Launch of FY24 MOBEC Program (late September/early October)
- Release of FY24 Implementation Plan (by September)
- Continuation of IDEA Fund (2024 application deadlines will be announced by September)
Jack Scatizzi
Executive Director of MTC
