CTNext

Vision
By 2017, Connecticut has a collaborative, thriving, and vibrant ecosystem for startup and growing small businesses that consistently produces net job growth, attracts entrepreneurs and talent, and serves as a model that others choose to emulate.

Mission
CTNEXT is a public private partnership that fosters an agile, open, and networked entrepreneurship community that helps CT’s most promising startup and growing small businesses find the necessary resources to experience accelerated growth.

Key Strategies
Leverage the unique strengths of our local communities, which enable entrepreneurs to have a significant impact
Encourage entrepreneurs, investors, corporations to engage with, collaborate and invest in their communities
Focus private and public resources
Engage the entire state in the vision

Drivers
Corporate and University Connections - structured programs to involve corporations and universities as sources of innovation, sponsors for entrepreneurial programs, customers of local new businesses
Venture Jumpstart and Acceleration - combination of events, growth advising, and accelerator programs to attract, train, fund and retain the best of the best new ventures and big ideas
Talent Development - focused effort on developing technology community
Government Program/Access - an integrated approach for ventures to sign up to access government support, and for the government to promote successes, services, events (Virtual Community)
Early stage to later stage investment vehicles - encouragement of both public and private funding of early stage ventures - $100-500K , and the $1-3m rounds