United States / Funding / By state / South Carolina
Funding for startups in South Carolina
South Carolina runs 10 programmes of its own, and 8 of them take applications right now. The 63 federal programmes further down are open to South Carolina companies too. We read each one on its official site and note the date we checked.
Run by South Carolina and local bodies
CommunityWorks Carolina Small and Microbusiness Loans
CommunityWorks Carolina · South Carolina
Small and micro business loans plus coaching from a Greenville-based CDFI serving South Carolina.
SC Community Loan Fund Small Business Lending
South Carolina Community Loan Fund · South Carolina
Business loans from a South Carolina CDFI for acquisition, renovation, equipment, and working capital.
SC Launch Inc.
SC Launch Inc. (South Carolina Research Authority) · South Carolina
Convertible loans or equity investment from SCRA's investment affiliate for South Carolina technology companies.
SCRA Academic Startup Grant
South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) · South Carolina
Grants up to $25,000 for South Carolina startups commercializing university intellectual property.
SCRA Acceleration Grant
South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) · South Carolina
Grants up to $50,000 to help established early-stage South Carolina companies mature toward an SC Launch investment.
SCRA Federal Matching Grant
South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) · South Carolina
Up to $50,000 matching South Carolina startups that already won a Federal SBIR/STTR-type commercialization grant.
SCRA Startup Grant
South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) · South Carolina
Grants up to $25,000 for early-stage South Carolina technology companies pursuing commercialization milestones.
VentureSouth
VentureSouth · South Carolina
Angel investor network based in Greenville funding pre-seed and seed startups through a monthly pitch process.
Drive Accelerator Program
SCbio · South Carolina
Twice-yearly biotech accelerator with mentoring and in-kind prizes for South Carolina and Massachusetts therapeutics startups.
SCRA Tech Catalyst Fund
South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) · South Carolina
Non-dilutive funding for early-stage medtech startups improving rural health access in South Carolina.
Want to filter these by amount or stage? Open them in the full directory.
Federal programmes open to South 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 South Carolina deadline funders will ask about
Most programmes above ask for financials and a company in good standing. In South Carolina that means the annual report — No recurring report exists for a standard SC LLC.
This page exists because South Carolina has at least 2 verified programmes of its own. See every state, or tell us about a South 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 South Carolina books in that shape year-round, so applying is an export rather than a rebuild.