Timing the sowing and watering of crops is as important as ever in agriculture. Jessi Korinek and her co-founders at Nave Analytics are developing a software that uses satellite data to help farmers cut down on water costs for irrigation. We sat down with Jessi to discuss her product, the impact of tariffs on the agricultural industry, and the challenges she faced in receiving federal research and development (R&D) grants.
Startup ecosystem feels the effects of DOGE cuts
The Trump administration’s push for “efficiency” is undercutting key programs and tools that maintain balanced intellectual property frameworks that protect startups against low-quality patents and meritless, but expensive and time consuming, litigation.
With a looming reauthorization deadline later this year, Congress has a chance to renew and improve a government funding program that can be critical to startups engaging in costly R&D.
Last month, Engine joined an amicus brief in a case at the intersection of intermediary liability and intellectual property law. In Hepp v. Facebook, a plaintiff argued photos of her were taken and posted without her consent, in violation of Pennsylvania’s right of publicity law. And on the theory that state right of publicity claims constitute “intellectual property,” she sought to hold Facebook, Reddit, Imgur, and other platforms liable for those user-generated posts.
TLDR: Across the country, small- and medium-sized companies rely on and benefit from balanced and certain intellectual property (IP) laws to innovate and build better businesses. That’s why this week’s celebration of World Intellectual Property Day provides a timely opportunity for U.S. policymakers to better appreciate the importance of such balance and certainty when crafting policy that applies to the emerging startups that are critical hubs of global innovation.
The Big Story: New Engine report assesses the nation’s startup ecosystem. Engine, with support from the Charles Koch Institute and data prepared and analyzed by Startup Genome, released a new report this week examining trends in the startup ecosystem. The report—"The State of the Startup Ecosystem”—evaluates startup fundraising trends, assesses individual U.S. ecosystems, analyzes startup exits, and contextualizes the capital needs of investor-backed startups.
TLDR: A key Senate panel is holding a hearing tomorrow to discuss ways to improve diversity within the U.S. patent system. As entrepreneurs across the country call on the government to support more diversity in innovation, and with the country continuing to confront systemic inequities, policymakers must work to ensure that increasing diversity in innovation—both inside and especially outside the patent system—remains a central component of their work.
The Big Story: Bipartisan bill would boost U.S. tech investments, R&D funding. A key Senate panel held a hearing this week to discuss bipartisan legislation meant to bolster the U.S. technology sector against the growing threat of competition from China. Members of the Senate Commerce Committee used Wednesday’s hearing to discuss how the bill, known as the Endless Frontier Act, would provide long-term investments in research and development, entrepreneurship, and technological advancements in order to solidify America’s leadership in the global innovation economy.
TLDR: Hiring full-time talent is costly and difficult when a startup is in its early stages, but recent federal efforts have created even more uncertainty for nascent companies that rely upon independent contractors to help them innovate and grow. As Congress and the Biden administration take steps that could narrow the definition of an independent contractor, policymakers must be careful to examine how this push would impact workers, startups, and small businesses across the country.
The Big Story: Boosting legal immigration will benefit startups, U.S. global leadership. As federal policymakers continue to debate much-needed updates to the nation's immigration system, a report released this week found that the U.S. risks losing its status as the world’s largest economy by 2030 if policymakers do not take steps to expand and increase legal immigration. The study, conducted by FWD.us in collaboration with George Mason University, highlighted how U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) could double by 2050 if the level of permanent and temporary immigrants was increased to more than two million each year.
TLDR: A Supreme Court decision yesterday means that startups and developers should be able to continue to use software interfaces, known as application programming interfaces (APIs), without facing liability for copyright infringement. Startups and developers routinely rely on APIs to create interoperability and compatibility between computer programs, and they had long understood APIs to be exempt from copyright protection. But a yearslong lawsuit between Oracle and Google put that understanding—and the use of APIs—at risk. Now, the Supreme Court has held that using APIs is a fair use under the law, and its reasoning should permit entrepreneurs to continue using APIs when developing innovative products and services.
The Big Story: Biden unveils infrastructure plan with broadband, tax proposals. President Joe Biden announced an ambitious $2 trillion proposal this week that would rely on a combination of spending and tax credits to upgrade and expand the nation’s infrastructure. In addition to devoting billions of dollars towards upgrading schools, improving roads and bridges, and spurring a shift towards clean energy sources, the plan would also allocate $100 billion towards the expansion of broadband to narrow the nation’s digital divide. In a speech on Wednesday announcing his infrastructure plan, President Biden said the connectivity funding would “make sure every single American has access to high-quality, affordable high-speed Internet.”
TLDR: As federal officials seek public input regarding the response to countries that have enacted digital services taxes (DSTs) on U.S. Internet companies, the startup community remains concerned that they will be affected by the levies in the form of increased costs for the services and products they rely upon. While the Biden administration and global officials work to reach a uniform digital tax framework, it’s critical that countries—and even U.S. states—refrain from imposing their own digital services taxes that could harm startup formation and success.
The Big Story: Removing barriers to entry for women entrepreneurs. Although the number of women-founded companies across the globe has doubled over the past decade—from 10 percent in 2009 to 20 percent in 2019—women entrepreneurs still face significant roadblocks when competing in the largely male-dominated technology sector. The gender disparity in the technology sector, driven in part by systemic sexism and responsibilities like child care and family caregiving, makes it more difficult for women entrepreneurs to break into the space with their own unique ideas and visions. Women represent just 11 percent of venture capital investment partners across the U.S., and women-led companies raise an average of 13 percent less in funding than their male counterparts. Women-led startups received only 2.8 percent of VC funding in 2019, while Black and Latino women founders combined to receive just 0.64 percent of total VC investments. That’s why it’s so critical for the startup community and policymakers to confront the challenges women entrepreneurs face and ensure that a diverse range of individuals are able to pursue entrepreneurship.
TLDR: A key House panel is holding a hearing this Thursday with the CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter to examine the spread of extremism and misinformation online. It’s critical that policymakers concerned about the proliferation of harmful content across the Internet understand how potential legislative remedies would impact startups and other Internet companies’ ability to moderate user-generated content.
The Big Story: House passes legislation extending pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. House lawmakers voted yesterday to approve legislation that would give approximately 2.3 million Dreamers—undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as minors—certain protections from deportation and would provide a pathway to citizenship if they meet certain criteria. The bill’s passage is a critical step for millions of talented immigrants who help drive innovation and job creation across the tech sector.
TLDR: Across the country, state legislators are pushing bills that would make it harder for Internet companies to moderate content on their sites and services. In addition to raising constitutional and legal problems, the state-level push to limit moderation would disproportionately harm small and emerging companies that are attempting to compete in the Internet ecosystem.
The Big Story: PRO Act would limit startups’ access to independent contractors. House lawmakers this week passed legislation—known as the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act—that would, in part, change the definitions of employees and independent contractors. By expanding the definition of an employee, the bill would make it more difficult for startups and other small businesses to hire the outside contractors they need to launch and grow their companies.
TLDR: As the House readies to approve a stimulus package that would provide billions of dollars for Americans and small businesses, policymakers are continuing to prioritize funding for broadband in order to narrow the nation’s digital divide. Efforts to improve Internet connectivity in rural and underserved communities across the country will not only benefit all Americans, but will also help lead to the creation of new and innovative startups needed to drive the nation’s economic recovery moving forward.
The Big Story: States push ahead on privacy in lieu of federal action. Virginia officially became the second state in the nation—following California—to implement its own comprehensive data privacy law last week. The passage of Virginia’s privacy law comes as other states—including Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, Utah, and Washington—consider implementing their own sweeping data privacy measures.
TLDR: Following House passage of President Joe Biden’s stimulus package this weekend, Senate Democrats are pushing forward with the measure that would provide billions of dollars to Americans and small businesses affected by the pandemic. As the Senate prepares to vote on the stimulus plan, it is important for policymakers to guarantee that the money set aside for struggling small businesses effectively provides the entrepreneurial community with the targeted emergency assistance it needs to drive the nation’s long-term economic recovery.
The Big Story: Despite progress, barriers still stand in the way of Black founders. Although the U.S. startup ecosystem is increasingly vast and diverse, Black entrepreneurs across the country still face barriers to entry—such as a lack of equitable access—that make it more difficult for them to compete with their peers. And the pandemic has only exacerbated some of these disparities, with a report from the Center for Responsible Lending finding that approximately 95 percent of Black-owned firms stood almost no chance of receiving a first round Paycheck Protection Program loan from a traditional bank or credit union.
TLDR: The federal government recently solicited public input about a national strategy for building more diverse and inclusive innovation ecosystems. While startup communities across the country comprise individuals of every race, gender, ethnicity, and culture, more needs to be done to empower underrepresented entrepreneurs and dismantle the unjust barriers they routinely face. As the U.S. continues to address systemic inequalities, many startups, entrepreneurs, and support organizations are calling on the government to use this opportunity to support entrepreneurship for all.
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