The U.S. Small Enterprise Administration (SBA) has unveiled the 2025 Progress Accelerator Fund Competitors (GAFC), providing as much as $9 million in awards to help entrepreneur help organizations (ESOs) that drive innovation amongst startups and entrepreneurs in underserved communities. The competitors, which opens January 8, 2025, will present grants starting from $75,000 to $150,000 to strengthen innovation ecosystems, foster collaboration, and increase entry to entrepreneurship throughout america.
“The 2025 Progress Accelerator Fund Competitors will construct on SBA’s legacy of strengthening innovation ecosystems by deepening the unbelievable entrepreneur help group partnerships we now have on the bottom in undercapitalized communities throughout the nation,” mentioned SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman. “This 12 months’s competitors will emphasize advancing America’s international management in crucial industries and guaranteeing inventive concepts make it to market.”
The GAFC goals to have interaction organizations in addressing gaps inside their ecosystems, supporting initiatives that bridge analysis and commercialization, improve capital entry, and bolster entrepreneurial assets in rising industries.
The competitors is split into two levels:
Stage One: Preliminary Awards
- Functions Open: January 8, 2025.
- Awards: $75,000 money prizes to organizations proposing progressive options to ecosystem challenges.
- Themes: Candidates should align their proposals with considered one of two areas:
- Lab-to-Market: Centered on reworking analysis into business functions in industries similar to biotechnology, home manufacturing, and nationwide safety.
- Capital Formation: Addressing boundaries to funding entry by growing funding mechanisms, enhancing monetary literacy, or creating extra stakeholders within the innovation ecosystem.
- Deadline: January 31, 2025.
- Winners Introduced: By April 2025.
Stage Two: Scaling Improvements
- Eligibility: Open to Stage One winners.
- Awards: Extra $150,000 to scale proposed options.
- Winners Introduced: By September 2025.
The SBA encourages a broad vary of ESOs, together with these serving traditionally undercapitalized communities, to use. Candidates can attend a free Pre-Software Webinar on January 9, 2025, from 3-4 p.m. EST to study extra concerning the competitors and the applying course of.
For extra particulars and software supplies, go to the SBA’s web site.