Deadline: 28-Oct-2024
The Economic Development Administration (EDA) invites organizations that support technology- and innovation-centric, high-growth companies (including but not limited to startups) as they develop, demonstrate, and deploy the next generation of critical and emerging technologies to submit applications for the Build to Scale Funding Program.
The Build to Scale program aims to:
- build public and private capacity for entrepreneurs and innovators to invent, improve, and bring to market new products and services in critical, emerging, and transformative sectors and industries;
- accelerate the growth of regional economies that are focused on industries of the future;
- empower communities to provide proof-of-concept and commercialization assistance to technology innovators and entrepreneurs; and
- equitably and inclusively increase access to capital for technology-enabled entrepreneurs.
This grant program supports organizations that may be operating initiatives to unlock investment capital across a region or sector, operating programs to accelerate company growth, empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs, or otherwise enabling technology commercialization. Frequently, entrepreneurs working in one or a set of related industries and technologies benefit from complementary resources, facilities, and labour markets.
EDA is committed to furthering technology- and innovation-based economic development initiatives that accelerate high-skill and high-wage job growth, create economic opportunity, and support the next generation of industry leading companies. Funding is available for organizations that aid companies in developing, demonstrating, and deploying new, emerging, and critical technologies.
Program Details
- Entrepreneurs adopting, developing, demonstrating, and deploying new technologies encounter numerous challenges and barriers along their journeys.
- These challenges and barriers often vary based on region, technology area, market, current economic conditions, and many other factors.
- Build to Scale provides flexible financial support for projects that enable entrepreneurs to face and overcome the particular challenges and barriers they face in a specific region and technology area. To maximize that flexibility, this iteration of Build to Scale combines the former Venture Challenge and Capital Challenge into a single Implementation Challenge, which will allow projects to increase access to capital alongside other activities.
Implementation Challenge
- The Implementation Challenge focuses on technology entrepreneurship and is designed to accelerate company growth in a specific technology area and specific region with aligned assets, resources, and capabilities. Competitive proposals will outline how the project will strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness through new product or service innovation or new technology adoption; enhancing research commercialization processes and outcomes; remediating structural barriers that inhibit regional innovation capacity and resilience; or
- leveraging regional competitive strengths to stimulate innovation and the creation of high-skill and high-wage jobs. Companies served by the applicant organization should be challenging the status quo of established markets or commercializing technologies, as well as furthering job creation within their businesses.
- Applicants should provide empirical evidence that illustrates how funds leveraged through this competition will not only launch or scale programming, but also generate sustainable added value for the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by augmenting existing regional assets for innovation and commercialization.
- Applications may also encompass activities that support the formation, launch, or scale of investment funds that seek to raise equity-based capital to deploy in scalable startups (e.g., angel, seed, or venture funds); or that expand equity-based capital access and deployment within a community, region, or regional industry (e.g., angel networks or investor training programs).
- These proposals may:
- identify, educate, and connect investors and other potential sources of equity-based capital (whether traditional, hybrid, or new structures) within a regional technology cluster;
- identify sources of potential investments (i.e., deal flow) and build capacity to conduct due diligence and close investment deals;
- raise and deploy equity or equity-based capital, whether through traditional or hybrid models, within a regional technology cluster via a fund or other collaborative investment framework; or
- deploy investment capital into technology startups based on an investment thesis that clearly supports and fosters the growth of a regional technology cluster and its entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Funding Information
- Funding in the total amount of $50,000,000 has been appropriated for grants authorized.
Period of Performance
- EDA anticipates awards will typically have a period of performance of 24 to 60 months.
Eligible Projects
- Projects should include
- operational and programmatic activities to build public and private capacity for entrepreneurs and innovators to invent, improve, and bring to market new products and services in critical, emerging, and transformative sectors and industries;
- accelerate the growth of regional economies that are focused on industries of the future;
- empower communities to provide proof-of-concept and commercialization assistance to technology innovators and entrepreneurs; and
- equitably and inclusively increase access to capital for technology-enabled entrepreneurs.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants for and eligible recipients of EDA investment assistance under this NOFO include
- a State;
- an Indian tribe;
- a city or other political subdivision of a State;
- an entity whose application is supported by a State or a political subdivision of a State and that is—
- a nonprofit organization;
- an institution of higher education; o a public-private partnership;
- a science or research park;
- a federal laboratory; o a venture development organization;
- an economic development organization or similar entity that is focused primarily on improving science, technology, innovation, or entrepreneurship; or
- a consortium of any of the aforementioned entities.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.