NC IDEA Foundation Awards Nine Grants to First Cohort of Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Partners

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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