Innovation Gateway partners with Center for Black Entrepreneurship on new SBA grant

Innovation Gateway will continue supporting startups and technology-based small businesses affiliated with the University of Georgia-thanks, in part, to the renewal of the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Grant.

In partnership with the Center for Black Entrepreneurship (CBE), Innovation Gateway is one of 49 grant recipients in 2024, receiving $200,000 to support proposals for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants, which are awarded to startup businesses engaged in developing advanced technologies. The Federal and State Technology Partnership Program, powered by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), is a competitive grant program for organizations that work with small businesses in underrepresented and disadvantaged areas.

"We are excited to be working with The Center for Black Entrepreneurship to expand access to SBIR and STTR grants to stakeholders throughout Georgia," said Dan Geller, interim director of startups. "This funding is an important early launchpad for these companies to get their technologies or ideas off the ground."

Innovation Gateway's startups program assists the UGA community, as well as the state of Georgia, in turning ideas and discoveries into impact. Along with providing funding assistance, it offers several programs to support UGA faculty and others in their entrepreneurial journey. In FY23, Gateway gave out 27 FAST awards totaling $68,000.

The CBE is a partnership between the Black Economic Alliance Foundation, Spelman College, and Morehouse College, and is dedicated to cultivating, training, and supporting a new generation of Black entrepreneurial leaders.

"The FAST program will increase needed support for small businesses in Georgia by providing capital support to entrepreneurs as they bring their ideas to market," said Grant Warner, CBE executive director. "At the CBE, we are dedicated to supporting initiatives like the FAST Grant that foster innovation and entrepreneurship, while expanding economic opportunities for those who need it most.

"These efforts," Warner said, "are fully aligned with the CBE's mission to unlock Black entrepreneurial talent and connect it to vital capital and commercial markets-especially at a time when Black entrepreneurs, and other under-resourced entrepreneurs, continue to face persistent barriers."

Innovation Gateway and the CBE cohosted SBA's America's Seed Fund 2024 Road Tour earlier this year, bringing federal agencies and small businesses together for early-stage funding assistance.

"Attendees heard from experts about numerous federal, state, and local resources available to support Georgia-based small businesses, including numerous UGA programs that help Georgia entrepreneurs start new companies," said Derek Eberhart, UGA associate vice president for research and executive director of Innovation Gateway. "Hundreds are launched each year as a part of UGA's ongoing commitment to catalyzing economic development."