FORGE Strengthens Connecticut Manufacturing by Advancing Startup Product Development

Manufacturing nonprofit will announce 2025 Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Fund Grant Winners at April event

/EIN News/ -- NEW HAVEN, Conn., March 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FORGE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps manufacturing startups reduce risk, decrease failure rates, and speed pathways to production, is set to announce the winners of the 2025 Connecticut FORGE Product Development Funding Program, backed by the The Connecticut Office of Manufacturing Manufacturing Innovation Fund (MIF). Make It Here in CT, scheduled for April 8, 2025 at the Gyre9 headquarters in Southbury, CT, will highlight FORGE’s latest investments in the local manufacturing and startup supply chain. Through this product development program, startups receive non-dilutive grants in the range of $30,000 and $100,000 to resolve product development barriers to contract with Connecticut manufacturers and suppliers.

Make It Here in CT will feature keynote speaker Paul Lavoie, Chief Manufacturing Officer of the State of Connecticut, and a panel of local startup leaders. The startups will discuss how FORGE’s introductions helped them establish critical connections to Connecticut suppliers. Among these panelists will be Floe, whom FORGE awarded a Product Development Grant of more than $30,000 to support their climatetech product development. Attendees will tour the Gyre9 plant to see how this type of non-dilutive funding furthers cutting-edge product development and manufacturing processes in Connecticut, improving revenues and engagement. Those interested in attending are invited to register here.

In just two years, FORGE has worked with more than 100 manufacturers and 140 startups in the state of Connecticut. Grantees of the FORGE Product Development Funding Program are selected from a competitive pool of Connecticut hardtech manufacturing startups with prototypes and a clear plan for using the funds to accelerate production, overcome scaling challenges, and contract with Connecticut manufacturers and suppliers.

The Connecticut Office of Manufacturing Manufacturing Innovation Fund (MIF) provides this funding to support the growth, innovation, and progress of the advanced manufacturing sector in the state. “Partnering with the Connecticut Office of Manufacturing enables us to equip local startups with the resources and connections they need to manufacture their products locally, rather than offshoring,” said Adam Rodrigues, Vice President of FORGE. “By ensuring that the innovators who invent physical products here are supported and empowered to make them here, we’re strengthening Connecticut’s manufacturing ecosystem alongside our many partners.”

About FORGE

FORGE is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that helps startups go from physical prototype to commercialization and impact at scale. FORGE identifies gaps and accelerates the path to market for startups with manufacturable products by providing manufacturing readiness training and support and making right-fit introductions to relevant industry expertise. FORGE programming and resources prepare startups and manufacturers to work effectively together, driving local manufacturing contracts from initial prototyping through to full-scale production.

FORGE’s efforts to identify, support and build resources for startup companies have yielded considerable success. To date, FORGE has helped over 1,000 startups with manufacturing readiness education, curated connections with the right providers and ecosystem collaborators, driving more than $46 million into the local economy, and over 10,000 innovation, manufacturing, and adjacent industry jobs. Learn more at FORGEimpact.org.

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