DURHAM, N.C., Sept. 30, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/
-- The NC IDEA Foundation, a private foundation committed to
supporting entrepreneurial business innovation and economic
advancement in North Carolina,
announced that it is awarding nine grants, totaling $1,175,000, 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,"
added Ruhe. "By working with the organizations that support a
diverse group of individuals, we have a great opportunity to share
and learn from one another, which ultimately serves the best
interest of our communities and the economy," concluded
Ruhe.
The activities being supported by the NC IDEA Foundation
Ecosystem Partner Grant Program include:
- 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-CH,
NC 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 Greensboro Partnership Entrepreneurs Connection -
$250,000 for a multi-faceted
(multi-partner) start-up company pipeline development and a seed
stage funding mechanism
Also participating in the activities covered by the Ecosystem
Partner Program will be two NC IDEA Foundation programs: Groundwork
Labs and SoarTriangle.
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.
About NC IDEA
NC IDEA is a private foundation
committed to supporting business innovation and economic
advancement in North Carolina.
Learn more at www.ncidea.org.
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SOURCE NC IDEA