Building a Smarter Planet. A Smarter Planet Blog.

The White House launched the Startup America Partnership today: a public, private effort aimed at accelerating high-growth entrepreneurship in the United States.  As one of the companies in the partnership,  IBM committed to invest $150 million in 2011 to fund programs that promote entrepreneurs and new business opportunities in the United States.

“The investment will help us greatly expand the work we’re doing to build business skills and provide market opportunities for the most innovative new companies in the country,” said James Corgel, General Manager, IBM Developer and Academic Relations. “These start-ups are tackling some of the country’s most pressing challenges and opportunities.”

The new investment will be used to coach and mentor start-up businesses throughout the United States, expand education, build skills and mentorship programs in collaboration with the academic and venture capital communities, and provide skills and business opportunities to the growing community of software developers who collaborate on emerging technologies.

IBM, through its  Global Entrepreneur initiative which began last year, has helped launch more than 500 new businesses in key areas such as green energy, health care and transportation.

Among the new American start-ups working with IBM are:
Streetline: A San Francisco-based company that uses the latest sensor technology to help citizens find inexpensive parking quickly, while helping cities to manage their parking resources more efficiently.

Sproxil: A Boston-based company that identifies counterfeit medicine in emerging countries using cell phone technology at point of purchase to validate genuine drugs.

CareCloud: A Florida-based cloud computing software and services company that streamlines the financial, administrative and clinical functions of a medical practice.

For more information, please contact Tim Willeford , IBM Media Relations, twilleford@us.ibm.com.