SBA Growth Accelerator Fund Competition Pre-Application Webinar: Goals, Rules, and How to Apply

Pre-Application Webinar: Goals, Rules, and How to Apply

SBA Growth Accelerator Fund Competition Open for Applications

This week, SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman announced the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) offering a total of $50,000 to $200,000 in prize awards to organizations seeking to foster a national innovation support ecosystem to advance small business research and development (R&D) from ideas to the commercial market.  The Stage One application portal opened on January 8th for a five-week window, and the SBA will award up to $3 million in Stage One prize money by April 2024.

Prizes Awarded in Two Stages

Stage One offers $50,000 in cash prizes awarded to organizations for ecosystem-building activities, including recruitment of new partners, and strengthening existing alliances among stakeholders (including public, private, non-profit, and academic partners). Contestants work collaboratively with chosen partners to bring additional resources, deepen network connections, and develop strategies to support STEM/R&D-focused entrepreneurs and small businesses. SBA welcomes Stage One submissions from a broad range of organizations with a collaborative vision to nurture a national ecosystem for equitable access to entrepreneurship.

Stage Two of the Competition offers an additional $50,000 to $150,000 in cash prizes to eligible Stage One winners to provide direct assistance to entrepreneurs, small businesses, and startups that are looking to commercialize their innovation, from R&D to the commercial market. SBA intends to announce winners for Stage Two by September 2024.

More Information and Application Portal