Florida Tech Awarded $150K After Winning Stage Two Funding for Mentoring Program
By Space Coast Daily // October 16, 2024
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Florida Tech has been awarded $150,000 in stage two funding under the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition.
Stage two awards were announced in late September for 44 organizations the SBA believes are fostering a national innovation support ecosystem to help advance small-business research and development from ideas to commercial market.
Guided by weVENTURE Women’s Business Center, Florida Tech will use the funding to expand weVENTURE’s proprietary Ignite 360 business mentoring model to better assist high-tech industries by collaborating with Florida Tech’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovative Design to utilize its experts and equipment.
This new Techcelerator program will also engage with other regional resources, such as Groundswell Startups, the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast and the Florida High-Tech Corridor, to provide wrap-around support to innovative companies looking to grow on the Space Coast.
“weVENTURE WBC is dedicated to igniting the economic impact of women, and this funding is a wonderful opportunity to expand the services we currently offer into more high-tech sectors,” said Kathryn Rudloff, Ph.D., executive director of weVENTURE WBC. “While we specialize in supporting a diverse innovation ecosystem, our programs and services, including the new Techcelerator program, are always open to all entrepreneurs, regardless of gender or industry. This is just the latest example of the Florida Tech commitment to provide programs driven by innovation that support our local economy.”
This summer, the SBA awarded Florida Tech $50,000 in stage one financing as part of the Growth Accelerator Competition.
The funding was used to develop and convene the two-day Florida Techcelerator Summit at CAMID in Palm Bay.
The event brought together innovative businesses and community partners for informative sessions about the unique Space Coast ecosystem and the Techcelerator program.
Stage One focused on strengthening ecosystem networks, while Stage Two prizes provide enhanced support to Growth Accelerator Partnerships as they play a crucial role in helping startups and small businesses scale, contributing to the economic growth of our nation, the SBA noted. These partnerships span public, private, nonprofit, and academic institutions, fostering collaboration across industries and geographies.
“The 2024 GAFC Stage Two award winners will drive forward the Investing in America agenda and strengthen America’s global competitiveness by continuing to support the expanding and increasingly diverse entrepreneurs across the nation and provide them with the opportunities that lower barriers for market and capital access,” SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said in announcing the winners.
Over the last decade, SBA has awarded 566 in prizes totaling over $33 million to winners throughout the U.S. and U.S. territories.
