LaunchPad Inland Northwest Foundation has secured a $100,000 grant as it expands its InnovateINW initiative to include partnerships, an AI & Cyber Network, and programming aimed at helping businesses adapt to artificial intelligence.

LaunchPad INW, a 501(c)(3) organization, unveiled InnovateINW last fall as a modern counterpart to Spokane’s Momentum 87’ initiative. Inspired by the earlier movement’s spirit of regional collaboration and a shared focus on economic development, InnovateINW applies a similar cooperative framework 40 years later, with innovation at its center, says Bill Kalivas, executive director and co-founder of LaunchPad INW and InnovateINW. 

The $100,000 award is a Bioscience Infrastructure and Ecosystem grant from the Health Sciences & Services Authority of Spokane County. The funding will support InnovateINW's Springboard accelerator by expanding its bioscience programming, which increases high-wage job creation through mentorship, university partnerships, and healthcare connections.

Typically, HSSA awards grants to companies to help grow their business; this is the first year the Spokane-based organization is awarding funds to organizations that help grow the ecosystem, Kalivas notes. 

To apply for the Bioscience Infrastructure and Ecosystem grant, leaders at LaunchPad INW looked back at the companies they had helped over the past 3 1/2 years and noticed that 72% were involved in the healthcare industry. 

“We leaned into that and put an application centered around building a regional bioscience accelerator to create more health tech companies in the region,” Kalivas says. 

Kalivas explains that LaunchPad INW's long-term strategy is to build a self-sustaining funding model through paid partnerships, fee-based programming, and grants rather than relying solely on public funding. The nonprofit has grown to about 20 paid partners and a network of 4,000 professionals who provide mentorship and expertise to startups and businesses, he says.

It generates revenue through its Springboard accelerator program, which charges early-stage startups a $1,000 participation fee for mentoring, business development support, and connections to advisers and investors.

The organization is also preparing to launch Springboard Scale, a companion program for established businesses that have stalled or are looking to grow, says LaunchPad INW board member Kevin Keohane.

LaunchPad INW is located at 421 W. Main in Spokane and has expanded its regional presence into the Tri-Cities, North Idaho, and western Montana.

Rather than establishing traditional branch offices, LaunchPad INW, through its InnovateINW initiative, is building a distributed network through existing coworking and innovation spaces and hosting workshops and events throughout the region, Kalivas says.

The long-term goal is to have a LaunchPad INW representative embedded in partner locations throughout the Inland Northwest, providing entrepreneurs with a local point of contact while connecting them to the broader regional network. Establishing this broad network, Kalivas says, will make the region more resilient to the challenges businesses face as AI emerges and future technological advances disrupt industries.

“It’s about creating a human network of institutions, organizations, and industry throughout the region,” Kalivas says. “This is a human effort we are rolling out, more than a technology effort.”

Another piece of InnovateINW’s expansion is the creation of the AI & Cyber Network, says Keohane. The network is designed to help businesses navigate the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence while strengthening cybersecurity collaboration across the Inland Northwest, he says. 

Earlier this year, LaunchPad INW formally integrated the regional cybersecurity community INCH360 into the nonprofit, bringing its programming under the InnovateINW umbrella. The move is intended to expand education, networking, and collaboration among businesses, universities, researchers, and technology professionals while positioning cybersecurity and AI as key focus areas for the region’s innovation strategy, according to a press release.

The network will connect companies with AI and cybersecurity practitioners, researchers, and academic institutions through workshops, events, and educational programming intended to help businesses adopt emerging technologies and respond to evolving cybersecurity threats, Kalivas says. LaunchPadINW also plans to use the network to strengthen relationships between universities and industry while helping commercialize new technologies, he adds.

“We’re a neutral broker. … We want to be your guide,” Kalivas says.