Any institution -- private companies, academic institutions, accelerators, and non-profits – that currently has or plans to have a presence in Massachusetts is eligible to apply. All for-profit applicants will require a partnership with an institute of higher education, a nonprofit organization, or a public or quasi-public entity located within Massachusetts.
When the Massachusetts legislature established the M2I2 program, they required that all recipient teams include academic institutions, nonprofit organization, or public or quasi-public entity. These partnerships help ensure that investments more broadly benefit the Massachusetts ecosystem.
IP ownership and rights are not impacted by a M2I2 grant - MassTech does not receive or claim any rights to IP created as a result of a M2I2 grant. IP terms of M2I2 partnerships are set directly between project partners.
Manufacturing USA Institutes are institutions established by the U.S. government to secure U.S. global leadership in advanced manufacturing. Each institution convenes business competitors, academic institutions, and other stakeholders to test applications of new technology, create new products, reduce cost and risk, and enable the manufacturing workforce with the skills of the future.
To assess whether your project is aligned with a Manufacturing USA Institute, explore each Institute’s website and past funded projects. In your concept paper, describe which institutes your project may be aligned with, and the CAM team will confirm that alignment. If you have questions related to potential alignment, please contact the CAM team at m2i2@masstech.org.
Applicants may also contact Manufacturing USA Institutes to discuss alignment. Some applicants have included letters of support from Manufacturing USA Institutes in their application to illustrate alignment.
No – any institution that currently has or plans to have a presence in Massachusetts and has a project that aligns with a Manufacturing USA Institute is eligible for the program. Applicants that are members of Manufacturing USA Institutes are encouraged to apply for funding from that institution, as those awards can contribute to the applicant’s M2I2 match requirement.
Applicants who are members of Manufacturing USA Institutes may apply for funding from that institute before or after applying for M2I2 funding. Funding awarded from a Manufacturing USA Institute can count towards the 1:1 matching requirement for M2I2.