Innovate Mississippi was awarded $50,000 in prize money for equitable access to entrepreneurship
WASHINGTON– Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced Innovate Mississippi as a Stage One winner for the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC). Innovate Mississippi will receive a $50,000 cash prize for its impactful and inclusive approach to nurturing a collaborative national innovation ecosystem to advance small business research and development (R&D) from ideas to the market.
By fostering connections between entrepreneurs, mentors, partners, philanthropies, corporations, investors, and other shared resources, GAFC 2024 catalyzes strategic ecosystem partnerships to build community and organizational capacity for the successful launch, growth, and scale of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)-based entrepreneurs.
Innovate Mississippi’s award-winning model will help every high-tech, high-growth potential startup with proprietary or difficult-to-replicate processes to get investment and grow.
“Innovate Mississippi is ecstatic to be named a Stage One winner in the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition by the U.S. Small Business Administration. This $50,000 award will help to fuel our mission to advance innovation in Mississippi,” said Tony Jeff, President and Chief Executive Officer of Innovate Mississippi.
Two Stages
SBA welcomed Stage One submissions from a broad range of organizations with a collaborative vision to nurture a national ecosystem for equitable access to entrepreneurship. Winners of Stage One were selected through a multi-tier review panel process with experts in entrepreneurship, business, innovation, and strategic planning both inside and out of the federal government.
Stage Two offers an additional $50,000 to $150,000 in cash prizes for Growth Accelerator Partnerships. To learn more about Stage Two opportunities and to access the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition Guidelines, please visit https://www.americasseedfund.us/accelerators
From inequity and climate change, to supporting national defense and community-driven economic prosperity, the real opportunity is now to build up innovation ecosystems and Innovate Mississippi is eager to deepen its collaborative impact in Mississippi.
Innovate Mississippi is a nonprofit organization with the mission to drive innovation and technology-based economic development for the State of Mississippi. Visit www.innovate.ms to learn more.
