The Greensboro Partnership’s Entrepreneurs Connection was one of nine grant winners announced last week by the NC IDEA Foundation, a private foundation committed to supporting entrepreneurial business innovation and economic advancement in North Carolina.
The grants totaled $1.175 million and went to organizations throughout the state that support entrepreneurs and promote entrepreneurship.
“Today’s announcement begins a coordinated effort to link the many great activities happening within the state to improve the economic potential of nascent firms,” said Thom Ruhe, President and CEO of NC IDEA. “From citizens to policy makers, society has a vested interest in helping more people succeed at pursuing their entrepreneurial aspirations.”
The activities being supported by the NC IDEA Foundation Ecosystem Partner Grant Program include:
The Greensboro Partnership received a $250,000 grant for a multi-faceted start-up company pipeline development and a seed stage funding mechanism.
Other grant winners were:
* American Underground – $100,000 for STAMPEDE, an incubation program for consumer product companies.
* Catawba Valley Community College – $150,000 for StartHub NC, a three-part effort including: Innovation Fund NC, Entrepreneur in Residence program, and Talent JAM.
* CED – $150,000 for continued support of the Connections to Capital program.
* Duke – $150,000 for the Triangle Venture Alliance, a network of Angel Networks at UNC Chapel Hill, N.C. State and Duke University.
* First Flight Venture Center – $100,000 for LiftOff, a non-dilutive funding support program for innovation-based companies.
* HQ Raleigh – $100,000 for HQ BAM, a multi-faceted incubation effort for entrepreneurs across the state.
* NC RIoT – $100,000 for events, training, promotion, and talent attraction statewide for the Internet of Things (IoT) sector.
* Ventureprise – UNC Charlotte – $75,000 for Ventureprise Launch, a program focusing on customer discovery, business model generation, and related lean start-up methodologies.
The awards are the first made from a Request for Proposals (issued in spring 2016) which rendered 50 applications from around the state. The Foundation is continuing the search to identify funding sources in order to support additional partner organizations to join the effort in future cohorts.
