Scaling Entrepreneurial Support

On September 8, 2016, NC IDEA announced a cohort of nine organizations selected as our first NC IDEA ECOSYSTEM grant recipients. The nine organizations were selected from 50 applications received. The grants were 2 and 3-year durations and ranged from $75,000 to $250,000 in funding. Since then we have grown the program to include over 80 partners.

Over the last eight years, through our relationships and activities, we have learned many interesting things about the diverse entrepreneurial ecosystems of North Carolina. Most notably, we have learned there are multiple ecosystems within the state, all with varying levels of the requisite building blocks to strengthen the economy; namely, access to organizations and their programs, and access to networks and their resources. If we are to fulfill our statewide mission, we cannot do so alone from NC IDEA’s home office in Durham; we must partner with organizations who know and understand local needs.

We believe that our commitment to supporting entrepreneurial ambition and economic empowerment in North Carolina is best achieved by working in partnership with others. The NC IDEA ECOSYSTEM grant program is designed to:

• Identify (and support) new partners doing inspired things to help entrepreneurs
• Provide a means for our organization to foster relationships, dialog and learning between ECOSYSTEM partners
• Better understand how we may (collectively) support more people in their ambition to start and grow companies that will strengthen the economy of North Carolina
• Encourage more organizations and individuals to support and participate in efforts to make North Carolina the best state in the nation to start and grow great companies

For the Fall 2024 ECOSYSTEM Grant Cycle, our goal is to select and fund approximately twelve (12) proposals that strengthen the NC entrepreneurial ecosystem. Note that programs supported by this ECOSYSTEM Grant are REQUIRED to primarily focus on entrepreneurs that: 1) are located in Eligible Rural Counties of North Carolina; 2) identify as Female; and/or 3) identify as Minority (or Persons of Color). For the purposes of this grant application, “Eligible Rural Counties” of North Carolina are specifically identified on the NC IDEA document here.

Note that, if your program will focus on entrepreneurs located in Eligible Rural Counties of N.C., please be sure to review our recently released Rural Entrepreneurship Report. With funding provided by Wells Fargo, NC IDEA partnered with MDC to explore avenues to better support the needs of Rural entrepreneurs across the state. Please review this document as it may help spark ideas to further refine your proposed projects supporting Rural entrepreneurs.

Each grant award will be for up to $100,000.00 in total and disbursed in the period between the execution of the Grant Agreement and December 2025, with all funding to be utilized and related project activities concluded by June 2026.

Questions? Please contact us via our online contact form.

NC IDEA ECOSYSTEM supports organizations executing innovative and transformational ideas that can strengthen North Carolina’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. It is not our intention to create funding dependencies for organizations we support via ECOSYSTEM grants; rather, our aim is to help validate new initiatives and demonstrate that continuing the support of those activities beyond the period of the grant would be in the interest of the communities served.

We invite proposals from nonprofit and for-profit organizations within North Carolina that help North Carolinians achieve their entrepreneurial ambition to start and build innovative companies. Note that preferential consideration will be given to proposed activities that support startups who may later take advantage of NC IDEA’s grants and programs for entrepreneurs. Organizations working with small and lifestyle businesses are not the focus of this program, as we believe there are other entities around the state that focus on serving those firms.

The following entities are not eligible to be awarded an NC IDEA ECOSYSTEM grant:

• Endowments, capital campaigns or other fundraising events
• Lobbying organizations, political parties or labor organizations
• Fraternal groups
• Individuals

NC IDEA does not presume how to best serve the diverse communities of North Carolina. We have, however, supported dozens of organizations around the state and have observed common practices with promising results that will factor into our evaluation. These include, but are not limited to:

• Education and training (accelerator) programs wherein participants work specifically on their company, whilst following some curriculum or structure
• Coaching and mentoring to help participants focus on long-term value creation, culture, work-life balance and other founder-related topics
• Direct technical assistance and/or small funding awards for specific tasks such as:

o Customer Discovery activities
o Marketing and Social Media support
o Sales collateral development
o Intellectual property protection
o Product development

• Networking communities of common entrepreneurial interest
• Sharing learnings from all of the above and generally promoting entrepreneurship

Proposals will be subjectively evaluated using the criteria that follows. Other factors may be considered at the sole discretion of NC IDEA.

Alignment

• Will the proposed grant outcomes further NC IDEA’s ambition to support a diverse population of individuals pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities?
• Does the applicant and their proposed activities complement NC IDEA’s growing network of ECOSYSTEM partners?
• How likely will the proposed activities support entrepreneurs who may later take advantage of NC IDEA’s grants and programs for startups?

Ability to Execute

• Can the applicant’s team successfully execute the program?
• Does the applicant’s team have a track record of success?

Outcomes & Metrics

• What are the specific outcomes proposed? i.e. what does “success” look like for this initiative?
• Will milestones and metrics validate the outcomes?
• How does the applicant plan to measure related metrics?

Sustainability

• How will this program be sustained into the future, beyond the timeframe of the grant?

Leverage

• To what extent will an award from NC IDEA be leveraged by other funds from the organization (or outside financial contributors)?
• Will other resources (and/or partner organizations) complement the activities proposed?

Timing

• Is this the right moment to be executing this program?
• Are there other time-specific dependencies that need to be considered?