HavocAI Secures $11M in Seed Funding

New Hampshire Patent of the Month - December 2021

HavocAI, a new Rhode Island startup, has secured $11 million in seed funding in a round led by Trousdale Ventures and Scout Ventures. The investment will help the startup bring low-cost, collaborative, autonomous surface vessels to market.

The new funding will support the company as they ramp up production and deploy their fleets in global waters.

HavocAI’s un-crewed vessels can act as a first line of defense against maritime threats, equipped with explosive and electronic warfare warheads and with the proven capability to launch both subsurface and airborne drones. Plus, electronic warheads disable enemy drones, allowing them to be captured or destroyed with surgical precision.

HavocAI has committed their engineers to extensive R&D, building vessels with greater speed and defensibility. Through this effort, they have designed naval drones capable of neutralizing enemy combatants and surface threats, operating in denied-communication zones, and working with air and sub-surface autonomous systems, creating a holistic defense web.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

REGENT Unveils Full-Scale Model of All-Electric Seaglider Prototype

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REGENT, a company that is developing a revolutionary all-electric seaglider, recently unveiled a full-scale mock-up of its prototype. The company also announced plans to expand its global headquarters, which will include new manufacturing and test facilities. The expansion has the potential to fulfill $8 billion in commercial orders by 2025 at the headquarters in Rhode Island.

According to REGENT, its seaglider is the first vehicle to take off from a controlled hydrofoil to wingborne flight. The seaglider is designed with multiple redundancies in its all-electric distributed power system and automated flight software and sensor systems to provide operators with full situational awareness for navigation, object detection, and flight conditions.

The $50 million in funding has significantly accelerated the development of the seaglider prototype, including building and flying the first quarter-scale seaglider prototype to prove out the float-foil-fly mission. The cumulative learnings from more than a year of flight testing were used to inform the design of the full-scale seaglider. REGENT aims to deliver its product to market by the mid-decade, tailoring its vehicles to meet the diverse needs of its customers, including commercial transport, supply chain and logistics, and military defense applications.

REGENT’s seagliders are designed to revolutionize sustainable, maritime transportation in coastal communities, offering a fast, efficient, and emission-free solution. With 40% of the world’s population living in coastal communities, there is a dire need for a fundamentally new method of transportation to efficiently move people and cargo through coastal routes.

The seagliders will serve as a complementary addition, rather than a replacement, to traditional modes of maritime and airline transportation, which can be seamlessly integrated into customers’ existing fleets. Based on publicly validated data, REGENT’s studies show that its seagliders serve an $11 billion market that could swell to as much as $25 billion as battery technology advances.

REGENT envisions its vehicles to act as a bridge between coastal city centers, facilitating multi-modal transportation through coastal airports. The company has established a loyal customer base of major airlines and ferry operators, such as FRS in Germany, Ocean Flyer in New Zealand, and Southern Airways/Mokulele Airlines, who plan to deliver their first commercial passenger seagliders to once they hit the market. The seagliders will comprise the best features of both maritime and aviation transport, combining the speed and comfort of an airplane with the cost efficiency of a boat.

The new facility expansion in Rhode Island will support initial low-rate production and at-rate production to fulfill the $8 billion commercial backlog. With the electrification of ferries, aircraft, rail, and other modes of transportation, REGENT’s all-electric seagliders are an integral part of the future of sustainable, multi-modal mobility.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

MindImmune Therapeutics Secures $12.4M in Series A Funding

Hawaii Patent of the Month - November 2021

MindImmune Therapeutics, Inc. is at the forefront of discovering mechanisms of neuroinflammation that may be targeted for breakthrough therapeutics for brain disease. With such ground-breaking research, it’s no surprise that the company has raised $12.4 million in Series A financing.

Their research is focused on the science around blocking aberrant immune system activity. This activity is an effector of nervous system disease, and blocking it may have positive impacts around the cause of symptoms and progression in many devastating neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Collectively, the co-founders bring over a century of experience in drug discovery. The founders are experts in neuropharmacology, neuroscience, and pharmaceutical drug discovery and development.

MindImmune’s scientists are bridging knowledge of both the nervous and immune systems in an effort to discover previously unrecognized immune effector mechanisms underlying brain disease. To support this endeavor, the company has decided to actualize their knowledge in the form of a facile drug discovery engine. Their flagship program may herald a breakthrough therapeutic for Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic inflammatory condition wherein the immune system becomes inappropriately activated. Then the inflammatory response fails to resolve this activation. This inappropriate immune response usually manifests as innate immune first responder cells infiltrating into the brain, where these cells cause damage to synapses.  This synaptic damage underlies both the cognitive symptoms and the relentless progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

MindImmune has identified the key innate immune cells that infiltrate the brain in these instances. Armed with this knowledge, the company began developing an antibody therapy to block this infiltration and ameliorate the synaptic attack.

Investors participating in the Series A funding round include Dolby Family Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), Trend Venture, RightHill Ventures (an affiliate of the Slater Technology Fund) and several private investors. The funding will go towards supporting the company’s lead program in preclinical development, targeting Alzheimer’s disease as the primary indication.

Are you developing new technology for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography Receives $1.5M Grant

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Researchers at the University of Rhode Island and Penn State University have been awarded a full four-year, $1.5 million grant through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This research is meant to protect New England coastal communities, national parks, and wildlife refuges from the impact of sea-level rise and extreme weather. The key players in this research include those in the URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography, it’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences, the Department of Ocean Engineering, and the URI Coastal Resources Center. In addition to these groups, URI can expect collaboration from the Schoodic Institute and the National Park Service.

The ultimate goal of the project is to help communities, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service adapt and improve their resilience as climate change marches on. This change has led to extreme weather such as hurricanes and nor’easters continuing to increase in terms of frequency and severity.

The project intends to expand the body of research related to the effects of extreme weather and sea level rise which currently lacks a clear understanding of the combined impacts of phenomena. As such, URI intends to focus specifically on the combined impacts of sea level rise and extreme weather events.

“This federal research funding will help URI faculty and students gather valuable information to answer questions about changing sea levels and in turn protect coastal communities from the effects of climate change,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed.

Are you developing new software for an existing application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Pointz Will Point Out the Safest Route

Pointz Will Point Out the Safest Route

Maggie Bachennurg, co-founder of Pointz, found that the needs of what she calls the “micromobility community” were not being met. So she and Trisha Ballakur joined forces to create Pointz. Pointz is an app for those who choose bicycles and scooters as their mode of transportation or even for recreational use. It provides the best and safest routes in a GPS map format based on specific means of transportation. For instance, a safe route for a scooter might be different from the safest route recommended for a bicycle rider.

Bachenburg’s research showed that only 30% of bicycle, scooter, and other small transportation riders are confident in Google Maps. Pointz aims to reduce bicycle accidents, encourage bike and scooter riding, and, of course, increase rider safety. There are also options on Pointz to see the elevation and other riding preferences. While you are riding a Pointz route, you have the option to notify the app if there is construction and the ability to rate your route, making the app crowd-source friendly. 

Are you adapting existing technology for a new application? Did you know your development work could be eligible for the R&D Tax Credit and you can receive up to 14% back on your expenses? Even if your development isn’t successful your work may still qualify for R&D credits (i.e. you don’t need to have a patent to qualify). To find out more, please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Specialist today or check out our free online eligibility test.

Who We Are:

Swanson Reed is one of the U.S.’ largest Specialist R&D tax advisory firms. We manage all facets of the R&D tax credit program, from claim preparation and audit compliance to claim disputes.

Swanson Reed regularly hosts free webinars and provides free IRS CE and CPE credits for CPAs. For more information please visit us at www.swansonreed.com/webinars or contact your usual Swanson Reed representative.

Research and Development Tax Credit Opportunity- 3D Printing With Foam

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3D printers have come a long way and offer benefits that traditional manufacturers can’t. Companies have been exploring the potential of 3D printers, leading to research and development (R&D) tax credit opportunities.

3D printing gives industries the ability to manufacture custom products at a low cost. Material scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have researched 3D printing with foam materials, finding printed products work better than mass manufactured ones in terms of durability and performance. R&D tax credits are available to all industries investigating new technologies, such as 3D printed products.  For example automotive companies using 3D printed foam to create prototypes would be eligible to claim.

NASA has expressed an interest in the use of 3D printed foam, offering $100,00 to the University of West Virginia to research the material. The R&D Tax Credit is even more beneficial in this case, federal returns allow an additional 20% credit when research and development is conducted through a university.

If your company is experimenting with new products or technologies please contact a Swanson Reed R&D Tax Advisor today, so we can help maximize your claim.

Top States for Doing Business 2016

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How does your state rank for doing business? CNBC ranked all 50 states for business using a range of publicly available data.  They used a points-based system for each of the 10 categories of competitiveness.

Here are the results:

Workforce

Rating based on education level of the workforce, the numbers of available employees, and the states’ demonstrated abilities to retain college-educated workers.

Top 5

  1. Colorado
  2. Massachusetts
  3. Virginia
  4. North Dakota
  5. Arizona

Bottom 5

  1. Maine
  2. Missouri
  3. Hawaii
  4. Vermont
  5. Kentucky

Cost of Doing Business

Rating based on the competitiveness of each state’s tax climate, as well as state-sponsored incentives that can lower the cost of doing business. Utility costs can add up to a huge expense for business, and they vary widely by state. Also considered was the cost of wages, as well as rental costs for office and industrial space.

Top 5

  1. Indiana
  2. Iowa
  3. Mississippi
  4. South Dakota
  5. Kentucky

Bottom 5

  1. Hawaii
  2. California
  3. Maryland
  4. Connecticut
  5. Massachusetts

Infrastructure

Rating based on the vitality of each state’s transportation system by the value of goods shipped by air, waterways, roads and rail. The availability of air travel in each state, the quality of the roads and bridges, and the time it takes to commute to work was taken into account, as was the condition of each state’s drinking water and wastewater systems.

Top 5

  1. Indiana
  2. Tennessee/Texas
  3. Tennessee/Texas
  4. Georgia
  5. Minnesota

Bottom 5

  1. Rhode Island
  2. New Hampshire
  3. Maine
  4. Connecticut
  5. Hawaii

Economy

Rating based on economic growth, job creation, consumer spending, and the health of the residential real estate market. Each state’s fiscal health was measured by looking at its credit ratings and outlook, as well as its overall budget picture. Also considered was the number of major corporations headquartered in each state.

Top 5

  1. Texas
  2. Colorado
  3. Utah
  4. Florida
  5. Oregon

Bottom 5

  1. Mississippi
  2. Maine
  3. Alabama
  4. West Virginia
  5. Louisiana

Quality of Life

Rating based on livability, including several factors, such as the crime rate; inclusiveness, such as antidiscrimination protections; the quality of health care; the level of health insurance coverage and the overall health of the population. Also evaluated were local attractions, parks and recreation, as well as environmental quality.

Top 5

  1. Hawaii
  2. Minnesota
  3. Vermont
  4. New Hampshire
  5. Maine

Bottom 5

  1. Arkansas
  2. Missouri
  3. Oklahoma
  4. Louisiana
  5. Tennessee

Technology and Innovation

Rating based on support for innovation, the number of patents issued to their residents and the record of high-tech business formation. Also considered were federal health, science and agricultural research grants to the states.

Top 5

  1. Washington
  2. California
  3. Massachusetts
  4. New York
  5. Maryland

Bottom 5

  1. Mississippi
  2. West Virginia
  3. Wyoming
  4. Arkansas
  5. Louisiana

Education

Rating based on the number of higher-education institutions in each state, as well as long-term funding trends for higher education. Also evaluated were several measures of K–12 education, including test scores, class size and spending, as well as digital and lifelong learning opportunities in each state.

Top 5

  1. Massachusetts
  2. Minnesota
  3. Wyoming
  4. Illinois
  5. Virginia

Bottom 5

  1. Nevada
  2. Idaho
  3. Mississippi
  4. Arizona
  5. Alabama

Business Friendliness

Rating based on the freedom each state’s legal and regulatory frameworks provide for business.

Top 5

  1. New Hampshire
  2. South Dakota
  3. Virginia
  4. North Dakota
  5. Idaho

Bottom 5

  1. California
  2. West Virginia
  3. Illinois
  4. Mississippi
  5. Hawaii

Cost of Living

Rating based on cost of housing, food and energy.

Top 5

  1. Mississippi
  2. Kentucky
  3. Arkansas
  4. Alabama
  5. Tennessee

Bottom 5

  1. Hawaii
  2. New York
  3. Delaware
  4. California
  5. Connecticut

Access to Capital

Rating based on venture capital investments by state, as well as small-business lending on a relative basis.

Top 5

  1. Illinois
  2. North Carolina
  3. California
  4. Michigan
  5. New Jersey

Bottom 5

  1. Wyoming
  2. Vermont
  3. West Virginia
  4. Delaware
  5. New Mexico

Many US businesses can take advantage of the state and/or federal R&D tax credit. Please contact a Swanson Reed representative to find out what is available in your state and whether your business qualifies.

How Does Your State Rank on the Innovation Scale?

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Innovation Is Key

Innovation is crucial to sustainable economic growth, but for innovation to occur businesses must have both the incentive and the capacity to invest.

As innovation is key to the United States’ economy as a whole, many U.S. states are showing off while others are falling short when it comes to patents, R&D, venture capital and academics.

So which states are excelling in innovation and which ones are lacking, you ask?

Patents

The top states in patents per population include:

  1. Wisconsin
  2. Washington
  3. Texas
  4. Utah
  5. California
  6. Massachusetts

The bottom five patented states include:

  1. Alaska
  2. Mississippi
  3. Tennessee
  4. West Virginia
  5. Wyoming

Venture Capital

The top states for venture capital are:

  1. Massachusetts
  2. California
  3. Utah
  4. Washington
  5. Colorado

The lowest are:

  1. Arkansas
  2. Alaska
  3. Hawaii
  4. Wyoming
  5. Iowa
  6. South Dakota

R&D Spending

The leaders in R&D spending are:

  1. Delaware
  2. Michigan
  3. California
  4. Connecticut
  5. Massachusetts

The states that spent the least on R&D include:

  1. Arkansas
  2. Wyoming
  3. Louisiana
  4. Alaska
  5. Mississippi

Academics

As for academics, the top states include:

  1. New Mexico
  2. Maryland
  3. Rhode Island
  4. Massachusetts
  5. Alabama

The lowest academic rankings were for:

  1. Louisiana
  2. Arkansas
  3. Delaware
  4. Wyoming
  5. Nevada

If you are a U.S. based company conducting R&D you may be eligible for the federal and/or state research tax credit. Please contact a Swanson Reed representative to find out further information.

Slow but steady economic growth in New England states

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The New England economy has continued to move in a positive direction, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The economy has seen consecutive yearly increases in employment as of the third quarter of 2016. These increases have been led by construction, hospitality, and information industries.

Only a year earlier in 2015, much of the region lagged the nation in terms of economic recovery. By September 2016 unemployment was as low as 2.9 percent in New Hampshire, 3.3 percent in Vermont, 3.6 percent in Massachusetts, and 4.1 percent in Maine, all lower than the national average of 5.0 percent that month.

Technology Driving Growth

Technology-related sectors are major economic drivers in New England, particularly in the R&D focused area of Massachusetts, which for generations has been renowned for the brainpower residing on its university campuses. The State Technology and Science Index from the Milken Institute once again named Massachusetts the nation’s most innovative state, continuing its strong run since 2002).

Among the region’s biggest tech-related headlines was word from Akamai Technologies that it plans to expand its corporate headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The tech company is spread across six buildings currently present, however plans to consolidate into two. In the process 700 jobs are expected to be added to the 1,666 already there. Another 400 new tech jobs are promised in Lowell, where cloud-based workforce management solutions provider Kronos plans to move its headquarters from nearby Chelmsford.

Rhode Island may be small but it gets its share of technology development, too. One of the past year’s biggest announcements involved plans by GE Digital to launch an information technology center in Providence, with the potential to create hundreds of new jobs, starting with about a hundred at the outset. The company cited strong university partnership opportunities and a healthy tech talent pipeline in making its decision.

The life sciences are historically strong in the region, led by Massachusetts. Among the developments, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics intends to invest $300 million in an expansion of its office, warehouse, and lab space in the Massachusetts community of Walpole. As many as 400 new jobs will join the 600-plus that will be retained.

Pro-Business Initiatives

There is wide spread initiative seeking to explore a variety of ways to grow the areas economies. The state of Connecticut plans to builds upon its economic strengths with a variety of programs designed to facilitate growth. Its Small Business Express program gives small businesses access to capital and job training, and has benefited more than 1,500 companies and contributed to the creation or retention of about 22,500 jobs. Meanwhile, the First Five Plus program is designed to boost large-scale expansion or relocation projects, with a focus on generating capital investment and creating jobs. According to a recent analysis of the program, just over a dozen companies have signed up to participate, and they’ve collectively invested more than $1.3 billion in infrastructure and human capital, creating nearly 3,800 jobs.

The state of New Hampshire is making a variety of ongoing investments to boost innovation. For example, nearly 200 companies were awarded research and development tax credits in the past year. Companies of all sizes are eligible for the state’s program, which is based on qualified manufacturing research and development. And the New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development recently landed federal grant money to help businesses expand their global opportunities.

Among the ways Rhode Island supports business growth is the Innovation Voucher program. A recent round of voucher funding is supporting six small companies that have entered into R&D partnerships with local universities. The recipients are involved in everything from life sciences to wind energy advancements to wireless charging of unmanned air and underwater vehicles. Also recognizing that big ideas tend to start small, the publicly financed Maine Technology Institute recently launched a new round of seed grant funding for 19 fledgling tech companies, plus several development loans and TechStart grants. Maine’s leadership offered additional signals of the state’s intent to keep moving in business-friendly directions — the governor, for example, laid out a proposal to gradually scale back Maine’s income tax until it hits zero in 2024.