The New York City Economic Development Corporation said it is still evaluating the possibility of a new technology transfer fund reportedly worth $10 million.

That's the official word from the EDC on a report by Bloomberg News that said the city is starting a $10 million venture capital fund to encourage the development of biotechnology businesses using patents from local universities.

Although the Bloomberg News report contained no attribution from city officials about the so-called Technology Transfer Fund, the executive director of Columbia University's Science and Technology Ventures, Michael Cleare, told Bloomberg News the fund is "one part of New York City's effort to build a biotech industry."

Bruce Brodoff, a spokesman for the EDC, told atNewYork that Mayor Mike Bloomberg's administration was still evaluating the merits of the Technology Transfer Fund and that a final decision on the amount had not been announced. He would not confirm the size of the fund.

According to Bloomberg News (which was founded by the mayor), the Technology Transfer Fund is expected to make investments of as much as $250,000 in companies licensing medical or computer technology from research institutions including Columbia and New York universities. It also said the fund would make grants of $20,000 to defray costs such as writing business plans or renting office space.

The news comes weeks after the EDC officially scuttled the $25 million Emerging Industry Fund in order to divert the capital to business assistance programs in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Emerging Industry Fund, established by the city in 2000, was earmarked to help create jobs in the city by providing early stage capital to technology start-ups. Throughout 2001, however, the fund and its managers were criticized in the press and among many in the technology industry for not deploying the capital beyond one stake below $1 million.

Now, the $25 million has been diverted in part towards the city and the state-sponsored WTC Business Recovery Grant Program, which is offering grants ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 to businesses that were directly impacted by the terrorist attacks.

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For example, businesses on or south of 14th Street could be eligible for compensation for two days of gross revenues, with a maximum award of $50,000, the EDC said. Businesses in the Restricted Zone around the disaster site could be eligible for grants to help defray lost revenues of up to $300,000.