The Mississippi Seed Fund awarded funds to 11 startup companies totaling $650,000 in 2021, which beat out 2018 for the best year in the Mississippi Seed Fund’s history. In that year, ten companies received $510,000.
“Innovate Mississippi’s mission is to work with these founders, help them with their business plan and get them in a good spot with their financials,” said Lindsey Benefield, investment manager for Innovate Mississippi. “That’s when we can invite them to pitch the Seed Fund board, and we were excited that a lot of our companies got to that point last year.”
The Mississippi Seed Fund has two types of awards, both of which are essentially loans that require no collateral, no personal guarantees and offer a three-year zero-interest, zero-payment window.
The Proof-of-Concept Award is a $10,000 loan that the startup can use to create a prototype, build a minimum viable product or otherwise start the marketing and customer discovery process to test their idea. Tribly, DaisNotes, GrowinLocal, Dealio and Coatney Consultants all received Proof of Concept awards in 2021.
The Growth Award is a $100,000 convertible note requiring a $50,000 investor match and a $50,000 in-kind match from the founders. CampusKnot, StayCool Brands, mySet, Rocketing Systems, AI Control Technologies and Moonshine LLC received Growth Awards.
“Most of our Seed Fund awardees are looking to raise between $200,000 and $500,000, so getting the Growth Award can give them credibility to go out and complete an angel round,” said Benefield.
Benefield notes that Innovate Mississippi has been working hard with local startups to get them to this point while working with investors around the state to build more interest in angel investing for high-growth startups. But it’s also been a hot time in Mississippi for business startups in general. The Magnolia State led the nation with 163% growth in business applications year-over-year from Jan. 2020 to Jan. 2021, according to VisualCapital.com using U.S. Census data.
“One of our top goals is to see more capital available for technology startups in the state of Mississippi, and it’s gratifying to see the results of working toward that goal,” said Innovate Mississippi CEO Tony Jeff. “Of course, we want to see a lot more companies getting a lot more funding, but it’s good to be on the right path.”
