Virginia Venture Partners Grants

The Raleigh Impact Partner Grant awards $20,000 grants to entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and small businesses in Raleigh for innovative pilot projects that promote environmental resilience and sustainable, community-based solutions. Administered by the City of Raleigh's Strategy and Innovation department, the program is designed to fuel economic opportunity through sustainable innovation and support new ideas that improve Raleigh's business ecosystem. Awardees receive grant funding along with technical support, citywide visibility, and connections to local networks that help accelerate the impact of their projects. The grant prioritizes proposals across a range of focus areas, including climate resilience and environmental protection; repair, reuse, and zero-waste models; clean energy and sustainable infrastructure; and sustainable business practices and community well-being. Topics of particular interest include reducing urban heat islands, flood mitigation, low-emission transportation, energy savings and battery storage, e-waste reduction, the circular economy, sustainable jobs and skill-building, and the integration of sustainability into health and wellness.

The Oklahoma Healthy Food Financing Program aims to promote the availability and sale of healthy food options in low-income and underserved communities. The program provides grants of up to $10,000 to build, renovate, or expand grocery and retail outlets to improve the availability of fresh produce and healthy foods. Eligible projects include new stores, small retailers, and renovations. Recipients must agree to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and allocate at least 30% of retail space to the sale of fresh, perishable foods, among other stipulations.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Cutting-Edge Basic Research Award (CEBRA) is designed to foster highly innovative or conceptually creative research related to the etiology, pathophysiology, prevention, or treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs). It supports high-risk and potentially high-impact research that is sparse or not included in NIDA's current portfolio that has the potential to transform SUD research. The proposed research should: 1. develop, and/or adapt, revolutionary techniques or methods for addiction research or that show promising future applicability to SUD research; and /or 2. test an innovative and significant hypothesis for which there are scant precedent or preliminary data and which, if confirmed, would transform current thinking.

Each year, we select 50 women entrepreneurs for a yearlong program designed to grow their businesses through workshops, coaching sessions, network-building, and financial resources. The program ends with a company presentation and in-person experience. In addition to educational resources and networking opportunities, the fellowship awards a $5,000 grant to each participant and access to 0%-interest Kiva loans.

Every month, we select a business owner in the US as a Freed Fellow. Each Fellow receives a $500 grant to invest in their existing business. No strings attached. No equity required. Everyone who submits a feedback request also receives two months free inside Freed Studio—our virtual community designed to help you grow your email list and turn subscribers into sales. Freed Fellows are also eligible to receive an additional end-of-year grant of $2,500.