Prior to submitting an application, you should complete this brief eligibility quiz to determine if your company fits NC IDEA’s funding criteria. Qualified companies must be headquartered in North Carolina and be classified in one of the following industries: Information Technology, Medical Diagnostics and Devices, Material Sciences or Green Technologies. Companies cannot be pharmaceutical or biotechnology focused, nor can they be organized as a not-for-profit or consulting firm. Preference is given to firms who have not received equity funding to date, who have a total addressable market of $500,000,000 or larger and have at least a proof of concept completed.
1. Has the company applying for the grant been incorporated?
Companies do not need to be incorporated when they apply for an NC IDEA grant, but they must become incorporated if the company is awarded any grant money.
2. Is your company headquartered in North Carolina?
Qualified companies don’t need to be incorporated in NC, but they must be headquartered in the State.
3. Does your CEO/Management team reside in NC?
NC IDEA gives preference to companies whose management team resides in North Carolina.
4. Does your company operate in one of the following industries?
Information Technology
Medical Diagnostics and Devices
Material Sciences
Green Technologies
NC IDEA gives preference to companies who are classified as Information Technology, Medical Diagnostics and Devices, Material Sciences or Green Technology.
5. Does your company operate in one of the following industries?
Pharmaceuticals
Biotechnology
Companies operating mainly in the fields of Pharmaceuticals or Biotechnology are considered "out-of-scope" and are therefore NOT eligible to participate in the NC IDEA grants program.
6. Does your company operate under either of the following business models?
Consulting
Not-for-profit
Companies whose primary revenue model is consulting or who are incorporated as a 501(c)(3) are considered "out-of-scope" and are therefore NOT eligible to participate in the NC IDEA grants program.
7. Has your company received any institutional, equity funding? This does not include any federal, state or local grants or any funding that is not in exchange of equity, or funding from friends and family.
NC IDEA gives preference to companies who have not received any institutional equity funding to date.
8. What is your company’s total serviceable market?
$100M or smaller
$100M - $500M
$500M or larger
NC IDEA gives preference to companies whose total serviceable market is $500M or larger.
9. What is your company’s current stage of development?
Idea (Still on paper)
Research (trying to understand feasibility)
Developing a product (proof of concept completed)
Testing (first version of product complete)
Selling
NC IDEA gives preference to companies who have at least a proof of concept completed. The further developed the product, the stronger your application will be received.
10. What positions on your management team do you believe you still need to fill?
CEO
CFO
Chief Marketing Officer
Chief Technical Officer
VP Sales
Other
None
NC IDEA gives preference to companies with a full team on board that has industry and start-up experience.
Thank you for completing the NC IDEA Eligibility Quiz. Please review the Grant Guidelines and Application Requirements sections of this site before proceeding. To contact us with further questions, please email us at grants@ncidea.org.
