US lawmakers debut PARTNER Act to stimulate investment in innovation

In the USA last week, the bipartisan Partnerships to Advance Revolutionary Technology and Novel Entrepreneurial Research (PARTNER) Act (HR 2179) was introduced to the Congress. The bill is co-sponsored by Representatives Richard Neal (Democrat, Massachusetts), Mike Kelly (Republican, Pennsylvania), Ron Kind (Dem, Wisconsin) and John Larson (Dem, Connecticut).

The bill would support early-stage research by incentivizing investment in R&D-focused small businesses. The PARTNER Act would allow companies to partner with their investors on a specific research project or pipeline. Only start-up and small companies dedicated to R&D would be eligible to use these R&D Partnership Structures, so investors would be incentivized to invest at an earlier stage when the capital is most needed.

The innovation incentives in the current tax code do not benefit not-yet-profitable companies – although these companies are the heart of America’s innovation ecosystem, noted the Coalition of Small Business Innovators (CSBI), which applauded the proposed legislation. The PARTNER Act is critical to the continued vitality of next generation innovators and is a much-needed step to ensure that America maintains its place as a leader in the 21st century global economy, said the CSBI.