Challenges, Grants & Other Funding Sources

COVID-19 Funding Assistance & Resources

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, startups may be in need of immediate funding to keep their businesses afloat in an economic downturn. Here’s a list of COVID-specific funding sources:

Federal & State Assistance:

Job Retention Grant (JRG): Grants of up to $250,000 for businesses and nonprofits in North Carolina. (More TechWire coverage here.)
NC COVID-19 Rapid Recovery Loan: Loans of up to $250,000 with no payments and .25% interest for 18 months. Available for qualifying NC small businesses and family farms. NEXT DEADLINE: October 15, 2020
NC Mortgage, Utility and Rent Relief (MURR) Program (from the NC Department of Commerce): Relief funds of up to $20,000 per qualifying business location. Designed to offset fixed costs like rent, mortgage interests and utility bills. NEXT DEADLINE: Upcoming (Fall 2020)
Main Street Lending Program (from the Federal Reserve): Five-year loans of $250,000 to $300 million. (More TechWire coverage here.)
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA): For independent contractors and self-employed individuals. (See NC Department of Commerce tip sheet.)
Small Business Administration Loan Programs: SBA’s list of PPP lenders will provide loans to eligible businesses in need of assistance.
- SBA Express Bridge Loans: Up to $25,000; fast turnaround.
- Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program: Up to $10,000 advance.
- SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP): Loan forgiveness for companies that keep employees.
- SBA Debt Relief: SBA will pay principal, interest and fees on certain loans.
Tax Relief:
- Federal Tax Credit Assistance
- NC Department of Revenue Tax Relief
Truist Natural Capital Investment Fund (NCIFund)
U.S. Department of Agriculture Assistance for Farming Businesses (+ USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program)

Local Grants/Funds:

All In For Raleigh (donation campaign)
Apex Small Business Emergency Loan Program
Chapel Hill SafeCommerce Grant: The Town of Chapel Hill and the Chamber For a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro are offering grant funds for small businesses that need personal protective equipment for their employees and/or customers. The maximum grant award per applicant is $2,000.
Duke-Durham Fund: Grants for small businesses, nonprofits and community organizations.
Durham Artist Relief Fund: Relief for performers and visual artists.
Durham Arts Council Recovery Fund: Funding for individual artists and arts organizations, venues and businesses.
Durham Recovery Fund: The Carolina Small Business Development Fund is offering loans and grants to Durham-based small businesses impacted by COVID-19:
- Durham Grant Program (offered by CSBDF in partnership with Duke University): Available to businesses with $500,000 or less in revenue; must have 25 or fewer employees.
- Durham Loan Program (offered by CSBDF in partnership with the City of Durham): Available to businesses with $500,000 to $2 million in revenue; must have 25 or fewer employees.
Fuquay-Varina Angel Fund: Grants of up to $3,000
Holly Springs Chamber Foundation Angel Fund: Holly Springs-based small businesses may apply for grants up to $3,000. You don’t have to be a Chamber member to apply.
NC Healthcare Foundation COVID-19 Fill the Gap Response Fund
Orange County Arts Support Fund
Orange County Emergency Small Business Funding Program: Grants of up to $5,000; loans up to $20,000.
Raleigh Small Business COVID-19 Relief Funds (through Carolina Small Business Development Fund): Grants of up to $10,000 for small businesses. (Make a donation here.)
Town of Carborro Small Business & Non-Profit Emergency Fund
United Way of the Greater Triangle Rapid Response Fund (donation campaign)
Wake Forward (through Wake County and the NC Rural Economic Development Center): $5 million in total to support small businesses, including sole proprietors. Applicants can receive support for two months of lost revenue, capped at $50,000.
Wake Tech Community College Rally Fund: For Small Business Center clients and LaunchWakeCounty graduates.

Statewide Grants/Funds/Loans:

Carolina Community Impact: Low-interest loans for small businesses.
Institute of Economic Development Small Diverse Business Emergency Relief Fund: Grants of up to $1,000 for small minority-owned or women-owned businesses in NC. Loans administered by the Women’s Business Center of NC.
NC Artist Relief Fund: Grants for local artists to cover losses from gig cancellations.
NC IDEA Partners in Purpose (donation campaign).
NC Restaurant Workers Relief Fund

Nationwide Grants/Funds:

Citizens Minority-Owned Small Business Grants: Aims to serve businesses that are at least 51% minority-owned and bank with Citizens.
DVI Funding Financial Bridge Loans: Up to $10,000 for individuals.
Facebook Small Business Grants Program: $100 million in cash grants and ad credits.
GoFundMe Small Business Relief Fund: Micro-grants to small businesses.
Google Small Business Funding & Support: $800 million in grants and ad credits.
Hello Alice COVID-19 Business for All Emergency Grant: $10,000 emergency grants for small business owners.
Honeycomb Crowdfunded Small Business Relief Loan: $10,000 to $50,000 in working capital (multiple options).
James Beard Foundation Food and Beverage Industry Relief Fund: For restaurants, bars and other independent food and beverage operations.
Lowe’s-LISC Small Business Relief Grants: Grants for businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19; focus on historically underserved communities that lack access to capital. (More coverage here.)
Mainvest Main Street Initiative: $2,000 loans for brick and mortar businesses that launch a capital raise on Mainvest.
Opportunity Fund Assistance for Small Business Owners Affected by COVID-19
Red Backpack Fund: 1,000 grants of $5,000/each to female entrepreneurs.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Save Small Business Fund: $5,000 grants to small employers.
Salesforce Small Business Grants: For businesses with $250,000 to $2 million in revenue.
Southern Smoke Emergency Relief Fund: For owners and employees of restaurants and bars.
Local Initiatives Support Corporation Verizon Small Business Recovery Fund: Grants of up to $10,000.

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If you’re interested in getting more funding and exposure beyond traditional seed rounds, here are some opportunities:

Big Launch Challenge

The annual Big Launch Challenge is a chance for startups pitch for cash prizes and capital opportunities. The event is hosted by The Launch Place in Danville, Virginia, which has expanded its presence in the Triangle market with a RTP office and several local startups in its portfolio. Winners of the Big Launch Challenge program often attract later investments from The Launch Place, as well.

Black Girl Ventures

Black Girl Ventures opened a Durham chapter in 2020. The organization provides funding, mentoring and coaching, crowdfunding and community connections to women-founded tech startups.

Crowdfund NC

CrowdfundNC provides education and services to enable North Carolina startups and small businesses to get funded using online private and public offering strategies, including investment crowdfunding. CrowdfundNC’s crowdfunding platform, Localstake NC, helps companies conduct a cost-effective debt or equity securities offering to get funding from customers, partners and supporters. Related TechWire coverage here.

Duke CASE Launch Pad

Duke University’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) hosts the Launch Pad program for Duke MBA students with innovative ideas. The program includes a $10,000 grant, coaching from CASE staff and the program’s global network of impact enterprise leaders.

Duke Incubation Fund

Duke Incubation Fund awards funding to idea-stage projects with commercial potential. At least one member of the startup team must be from Duke University.

Duke MEDx Funding Opportunities

Duke University’s MEDx initiative offers a range of funding opportunities for students and faculty members with solutions to medical challenges.

Duke Startup Challenge

Three student teams compete in three rounds for a year-long entrepreneurship competition that leads to an accelerator program.

Google for Entrepreneurs Exchange: Black Founders

A week-long startup program focused on building and funding local startups led by black founders. It’s held in conjunction with the annual Black Wall Street Homecoming, a three-day event that celebrates the entrepreneurship and innovation sourced from Durham’s diverse, multicultural communities.

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IdeaFest

The Launch Place‘s IdeaFest is an annual competition where 20 finalists pitch their startup idea to judges and a live audience. The top three competitors will be awarded $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place and $2,000 for third place. Winners of the competition are eligible to receive 25 hours of free business consulting from The Launch Place.

Innovate Durham

Innovate Durham, a program launched by the City of Durham, offers innovators the facilities, tools and government resources they need to create technology-driven solutions to community challenges.

INVESTinNC

INVESTinNC is an educational program to engage small business owners and potential investors about new investment crowdfunding opportunities presented under the NC PACES Act. This is a full-package resource for North Carolina-based companies seeking to raise money through community-based investment crowdfunding sources. Related coverage here.

Lulu eGames

An annual pitch competition for NC State student-led ventures within five categories—new venture, design and prototype, arts, social impact and built on cloud. At this year’s program, participating teams took home more than $100,000 in cash prizes.

NCBiotech Loan & Grant Programs

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center offers a host of funding and grant programs for companies and nonprofits in the technology and life science industries. See all offerings here.

NC IDEA ECOSYSTEM

NC IDEA’s ECOSYSTEM grant program supports non-profit and for-profit organizations that are using innovative methods to boost North Carolina’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, particularly for underrepresented entrepreneurs.

NC IDEA MICRO

NC IDEA’s MICRO grant program offers funding of up to $10,000 for early-stage companies seeking to validate and further develop their ideas. Recipients will also receive mentorship from NC IDEA and access to its network.

NC IDEA SEED

Through its SEED program, the NC IDEA Foundation offers grants to a handful of select startups twice per year. Each company receives up to $50,000 in non-dilutive funding, along with mentorship and guidance.

One North Carolina Small Business Program

This state program offers grant-matching to North Carolina startups who’ve received Phase I awards from the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) federal programs. More TechWire coverage here.

UNC’s Carolina Challenge

UNC’s Carolina Challenge is a venture competition that provides students the opportunity to win seed funding for early-stage ideas. Every year, the challenge distributes around $50,000 to promising startups in both profit and nonprofit spaces.

UNC Eshelman Institute for Innovation Grants

UNC Chapel Hill’s Eshelman Institute for Innovation offers grant funding to staff/faculty, students and postdocs who are developing innovations in science, medicine, healthcare delivery or healthcare education. You can check out some of the projects that have been awarded funding in the past here.