Virginia Venture Partners Grants

Topeka and Shawnee County’s Small Business Incentives Program provides matching grants to local businesses to help with marketing costs, construction, equipment purchases, and more. Eligible businesses can get grants from $1,000 up to $20,000 depending on their project needs and matching investment. To qualify, businesses must be located in the City of Topeka or Shawnee County, have at least one but no more than 100 full-time employees, and demonstrate that their project will contribute to the economy.

Virginia Enterprise Zone Job Creation Grants incentivize businesses that bring jobs to areas falling within defined Enterprise Zones. Eligible companies may claim grants for up to 350 jobs per year and must create over four full-time jobs to qualify for a five-year grant period. Awards are per-employee and range-based on the salary offered, benchmarked against the federal minimum wage or the Virginia minimum wage, whichever is higher. For jobs providing 150% of the minimum wage, companies receive up to $500 per worker. Those offering 175% of the minimum wage get up to $800 annually per worker. In areas with high unemployment, companies can receive a defined grant of $500 for jobs paying 125% of minimum wage and $800 for jobs paying 175%.

The South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) Member Companies may apply for a variety of non-dilutive grants, each with its own eligibility and review criteria. The objective of the Acceleration Grant is to provide early-stage funding to startups to accelerate a company’s technology and/or business model to the next level of maturity and market readiness. Acceleration Grants provide funding up to $50,000.

Managed by the Academic Innovations Team, the objective of the Federal Matching Grant is further federal funds received by small businesses in South Carolina to advance translational research in support of one or more critical milestones towards commercialization. Preference given to SBIR/STTR awardees with initial datasets who identify gaps in commercialization activities that would help develop a compelling proposal for follow on funding. Other Federal matches will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Key milestones include developing the technology past the minimum viable product (MVP) and demonstrating product-market fit, in the DEVELOP stage of startup development. In the ACCELERATE stage of startup development, key milestones include enabling product execution through testing and demonstrations. Federal Matching Grants can match funds up to 50% of a qualifying federal award, not to exceed $50,000.

Businesses based in Middletown, Connecticut, and that have been in operation for a minimum of 24 months (among other qualifications) may be eligible for this operating assistance grant. The maximum grant amount will not exceed $5,000 and can be used toward rent, utilities, and other ongoing fixed expenses and operating costs.