The Mississippi Development Authority currently is accepting applications for the V-Quad Entrepreneurs Technical Assistance Program (ETAP) grants.

Teams are eligible for a maximum award of $25,000 each in the form of a voucher that may be used to receive technical assistance from a research university in Mississippi. MDA will award a total of $100,000 in the ETAP, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy – State Energy Program. Teams receiving an ETAP grant will be paired with a relevant research university to solve specific technical challenges posed by the applicants. Teams will have up to nine months from the award date to complete their proposed tasks.

The competition is open to teams of high school and college students, university or community college faculty, for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, public-sector employees or any combination of individuals from these entities.

Examples of eligible projects include the use of clean energy and energy-efficient products and services, agricultural products and services, as well as robotics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, unmanned aerial and terrestrial vehicles and genomics applied within the energy and agriculture sectors.

The deadline to apply for a grant is Thursday, June 30, 2022.

Application instructions and guides:

• View detailed application instructions
• Examples of resources available through V-Quad partners

V-quad’s mission is to build an innovative, virtual incubator network to support Mississippi entrepreneurs and innovators launching businesses focused on energy- and agriculture-related technologies.

The program helps new technology companies seeking to commercialize energy and agriculture-related technologies find technical assistance and financial networks with a specific focus in these areas. V-Quad’s goal is to form public-private partnerships that connect Mississippi’s research universities, industry, government and non-profits that strengthen the state’s technology development entrepreneurial ecosystem.