United States / Funding / By state / Wisconsin
Funding for startups in Wisconsin
Wisconsin runs 5 programmes of its own, and 4 of them take applications right now. The 63 federal programmes further down are open to Wisconsin companies too. We read each one on its official site and note the date we checked.
Run by Wisconsin and local bodies
Business Development Tax Credit Program
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) · Wisconsin
Refundable Wisconsin tax credits for job creation, tied to a company locating or expanding in the state with at least $250,000 invested.
International Market Access Grant (IMAG)
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) · Wisconsin
Grants up to $30,000 for established Wisconsin exporters, under $50 million revenue, to expand into new international markets.
Technology Development Loan (TDL) Program
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) · Wisconsin
Venture debt of up to 20% of a funding round for Wisconsin tech companies raising equity to commercialize an innovative product.
Wisconsin Investment Fund
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) · Wisconsin
SSBCI-backed equity capital for Wisconsin seed and early-stage companies, invested through one of four state-selected venture capital partners.
Green Innovation Fund
Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) · Wisconsin
Funds Wisconsin clean-energy projects in underserved communities, but no solicitation is currently open; sign up for the next round.
Want to filter these by amount or stage? Open them in the full directory.
Federal programmes open to Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin deadline funders will ask about
Most programmes above ask for financials and a company in good standing. In Wisconsin that means the Annual Report — Not independently verified. Domestic LLC: due by the end of the calendar quarter in which articles of organization were filed. Foreign LLC: due during the first calendar quarter of the year after registration.
This page exists because Wisconsin has at least 2 verified programmes of its own. See every state, or tell us about a Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin books in that shape year-round, so applying is an export rather than a rebuild.