North Carolina Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland announced today that new applications are being accepted by the One North Carolina Small Business Matching Funds Program, an important source of capital for North Carolina’s technology companies. The program provides money to help small businesses develop and commercialize innovative new technologies.
Applications will be accepted until June 30, 2019, or until funds have been exhausted for the program’s 2018-2019 fiscal year funding cycle.
Under the program, the State of North Carolina awards matching grants of up to $50,000 to businesses that have recently won a highly-competitive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant. These federal SBIR and STTR grants are the single largest source of early stage technology development and commercialization funding for small businesses—more than $2.5 billion annually nationwide.
“Small businesses in North Carolina conduct some of the most innovative research and technology development in the state, activities that are critical to the future growth of our state’s economy,” said Secretary Copeland. “This program further ensures that North Carolina is well positioned to remain a top competitor in the global marketplace.”
North Carolina is among a handful of forward-thinking states with a matching program to leverage federal technology funding and help homegrown businesses commercialize innovative technologies and create jobs. South Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia all modeled their current efforts after North Carolina’s pioneering program.
Since its inception in 2006, North Carolina’s program has:
- Enabled over 250 small businesses throughout the state to create or retain more than 900 high-wage, high-skill private sector jobs;
- Helped North Carolina companies develop and commercialize hundreds of technologies in sectors such as medical devices, computer software, military technologies, energy, and textiles;
- Generated a 20-to-1 return on the state’s grant dollars by attracting more than $515 million in external private investment and more than $122 million in additional federal funds;
- Generated more than $125 million in first-year annual sales directly related to the products and services developed and commercialized using the state’s matching support.
Profiles of some of the small businesses that have benefited from the program can be found at nccommerce.com/sti/grant-programs/one-nc-small-business-program/grant-impacts.
The North Carolina Board of Science, Technology & Innovation administers these grants. The 2018-2019 Solicitation for the Program, as well as program information, application instructions, and supporting materials are posted on the Board’s website atnccommerce.com/sti/.