Innosphere is excited to announce that we have been awarded a $50,000 case prize from the Small Business Administration’s third annual Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. We collaborated with CSU Ventures on this grant application to the SBA because there are 4-6 startup companies each year that come out of Colorado State University that need to do a lot of proof-of-concept work. SBIR grants can fund their research and would be hugely impactful to the success of these companies if awarded.

We will use this funding to support more startup companies through their application process as they apply for SBIR and STTR grants.

Applications were judged by more than 100 experts with entrepreneurial, investment, startup, economic development, capital formation and academic backgrounds from both the public and private sector. The first panel of judges reviewed more than 400 applications and presentations, and established a pool of 200 finalists. The competition is backed by the SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation, Office of Native American Affairs, Office of Veterans Business Development, the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and the Department of Education.

View the SBA press release here: https://www.sba.gov/content/sba-announces-34-million-small-business-startups