United States / Funding / By state / North Carolina
Funding for startups in North Carolina
North Carolina runs 9 programmes of its own, and 5 of them take applications right now. The 63 federal programmes further down are open to North Carolina companies too. We read each one on its official site and note the date we checked.
Run by North Carolina and local bodies
Black Founders Exchange
American Underground · North Carolina
A no-fee week of mentorship, covered accommodation, and pitch showcase in Durham for Black tech founders.
IGNITE Loan Program
Carolina Small Business Development Fund · North Carolina
Loans up to $75,000 for North Carolina small businesses operating at least two years, with a discount for veterans.
NC Biotechnology Center Company Funding
North Carolina Biotechnology Center · North Carolina
Loans of $150,000 to $650,000 for North Carolina life sciences and agtech companies.
One North Carolina Small Business Program
North Carolina Department of Commerce (Office of Science, Technology & Innovation) · North Carolina
North Carolina's state-level companion to federal SBIR/STTR, reimbursing Phase I proposal costs and matching Phase I awards for NC small businesses.
Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program (RMAP)
Carolina Small Business Development Fund · North Carolina
Loans up to $50,000 at 7% interest for microenterprises in designated rural areas of North Carolina.
Launch Chapel Hill
Launch Chapel Hill · North Carolina
Cohort-based accelerator in Chapel Hill for deep tech and dual-use founders working toward their first customer.
NC IDEA MICRO
NC IDEA · North Carolina
$10,000 grants twice a year plus a six-month program for early North Carolina startups validating their business model.
NC IDEA SEED
NC IDEA · North Carolina
Milestone-based $50,000 grants twice a year for growth-stage North Carolina startups with an MVP and traction.
RIoT Accelerator Program (RAP)
RIoT (Wireless Research Center) · North Carolina
12-week no-cost, no-equity accelerator in North Carolina for IoT, AI, and hardware startups, three cohorts a year.
Want to filter these by amount or stage? Open them in the full directory.
Federal programmes open to North Carolina businesses
Grants 23
- AFWERX SBIR/STTR & Army xTechup to $15M
- Amber Grant for Womenup to $50k
- ARPA-E
- ARPA-H
- Comcast RISEup to $5k
- DHS SBIRup to $1M
- DoD SBIR/STTRup to $2.15M
- DOE SBIR/STTRup to $2.15M
- ED/IES SBIRup to $1M
- EDA Build to Scale (B2S)up to $5M
- EPA SBIRup to $400k
- Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program
- FedEx Small Business Grant Contestup to $50k
- NASA SBIR/STTRup to $1.27M
- NIH SBIR/STTRup to $4.19M
- NOAA SBIRup to $690k
- NSF SBIR/STTR — America's Seed Fund powered by NSFup to $1.25M
- Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) — Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiencyup to $25M
- SBA Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC)up to $200k
- SBIR/STTR (America's Seed Fund)up to $2.15M
- US DOT SBIRup to $200k
- USDA NIFA SBIR
- Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG)up to $200k
Loans & guarantees 15
- CAPLines (SBA 7(a) Lines of Credit)up to $5M
- CDFI Fund — Certified Community Development Financial Institution Network
- DOE Loan Programs Office (Office of Energy Dominance Financing)
- Export Working Capital Program (EWCP)up to $5M
- International Trade Loan Program (ITL)up to $5M
- Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan (MREIDL)up to $2M
- SBA 504 Loan Program (CDC/504)up to $5.5M
- SBA 7(a) Loan Programup to $5M
- SBA Community Advantage Loansup to $1M
- SBA Disaster Loans (Physical Damage & Economic Injury)up to $2M
- SBA Microloan Programup to $50k
- SBA-504 and 7(a) Combined Loan Cap ($10M)up to $10M
- EXIM Working Capital Guarantee Programup to $10M
- SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Programup to $14M
- State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI)
Tax benefits 8
- Federal R&D Tax Credit (Section 41)
- New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)
- QSBS Section 1202 Exclusionup to $15M
- Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ)
- R&D Payroll Tax Offset (Qualified Small Business Payroll Tax Credit)up to $500k
- Section 174A Domestic R&D Expensing Restoration
- State R&D Tax Credits (multi-state landscape)
- Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)up to $2.4k
Equity 7
- 500 Global Flagship Acceleratorup to $150k
- Antler US Residency
- gener8tor Investment Acceleratorup to $100k
- HAXup to $250k
- Neo Accelerator
- Techstars Standard Investment Termsup to $220k
- Y Combinator Standard Dealup to $500k
Support & credits 10
- AWS Activateup to $200k
- Google for Startups Cloud Programup to $350k
- Microsoft for Startupsup to $150k
- MassChallenge Accelerator Programs (Traction & Challenge)
- MBDA Business Center Network
- NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
- NVIDIA Inception
- Plug and Play Accelerator Programs
- SBA 8(a) Business Development Program
- Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Program
The other North Carolina deadline funders will ask about
Most programmes above ask for financials and a company in good standing. In North Carolina that means the Annual Report — Due April 15th of each year, starting the year after formation.
This page exists because North Carolina has at least 2 verified programmes of its own. See every state, or tell us about a North Carolina programme we are missing via the contact page.
Funders read the books before the pitch
Every programme on this page asks for financials in a particular shape. We keep North Carolina books in that shape year-round, so applying is an export rather than a rebuild.