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DURHAM – NC IDEA, a private foundation committed to supporting entrepreneurial ambition and economic empowerment in North Carolina, announced today that the organization has selected 25 semi-finalists from across the state in its 31st SEED grant cycle. These semi-finalists were chosen from 174 competitive applications received by the organization.
“This cycle, we received a near-record number of grant applications, now the third time we have conducted our SEED process virtually,” said Thom Ruhe, President and CEO of NC IDEA. “Again, we were faced with the difficult challenge of narrowing down a competitive field of demographically and geographically diverse applicants. We look forward to learning more about the group that is moving forward to the next phase,” Ruhe added.
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The 25 Spring 2021 NC IDEA SEED Semi-Finalists include:
Active Defender – Carthage, NC
Advanced Materials Manufacturing – Wake Forest, NC
AutoPartsNearby LLC – Charlotte, NC
BatteryXchange – Huntersville, NC
Beam Dynamics LLC – Winston-Salem, NC
Couplet Care – Durham, NC
Dare Vegan Cheese – Asheville, NC
DayWatt LLC – Cornelius, NC
GreenToGo – Durham, NC
FastQSR, LLC – Warrenton, NC
HiveTracks, Inc. – Creston, NC
InStryde – Winston-Salem, NC
Lumen Design Group – Durham, NC
Maurer’s Minute Mechanic Inc. – Winterville, NC
OpiAID, LLC – Wilmington, NC
Peoplelogic.ai – Durham, NC
pro-UP – Rockwell, NC
Protect3d – Durham, NC
Rownd – Durham, NC
Shipmint, Inc. – Raleigh, NC
Smart Girls HQ LLC – Charlotte, NC
Stemz – Winston-Salem, NC
Step42 LLC – Waxhaw, NC
StoryNow – Charlotte, NC
Vetletics Inc. – Morrisville, NC
The semi-finalists have been invited to submit a full proposal with greater details by early April. Finalists will then be selected to present before a review panel comprised of experienced investors, industry experts and entrepreneurs. Grant recipients will be announced in early May. The $50,000 grants are intended to support business activities that validate target markets, reduce risk associated with early stage companies and help companies get to the point of suitability for growth; whether through investment or revenue.
(C) NC IDEA
