On April 23, 2024, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator, Isabel Casillas Guzman, announced the initial round winners of the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition, with each of the victorious participants receiving $50,000. The annual competition, aimed at growing small businesses and innovation across economically challenged areas, gathered a myriad of entries from across the nation.
The cash prize will offer the winning entrepreneurs vital resources to inject into their businesses, potentially encouraging economic growth and job creation within their regions. The competition forms part of the SBA’s perseverance in empowering promising ventures grappling with economic rigors. The winners excelled at showcasing great potential for future growth and brought forward innovative solutions, leading the SBA to anticipate they will serve as model examples for fellow small businesses.
Guzman’s enduring efforts in championing the 33 million+ small enterprises and startups across America, in line with President Biden’s Cabinet agenda, remain unswerving. She consistently stresses the importance of facilitating sustainable economic growth and strongly advocates for levelling the playing field for the entire nation. As the torchbearer for small businesses, Guzman drives supportive measures to achieve an equitable distribution of resources, enhancing businesses’ opportunities to flourish and succeed.
The first-stage winners of the 2024 competition primarily focused on nurturing efficient ecosystems through forging new collaborations and reinforcing existing partnerships. Their innovative projects directly linked to the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition’s central themes, touting National and Economic Security, Domestic Manufacturing and Production, Sustainability, and Biotechnology.
Unveiling 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund victors
The winning organizations displayed their commitment to innovation through unique strategies and significant partnership-building skills, aimed at strengthening existing models, fostering sustainable ventures, and promoting domestic growth.
The competition’s second stage carries the prospects of heftier cash prizes, ranging from $50,000 to $150,000. The fund seeks to assist entrepreneurs in converting their innovative ideas into market-ready products. Along with the financial prize, winners gain access to valuable technical and business development resources through collaborative opportunities with Federal Laboratories. Furthermore, select winners receive an invitation to partake in a National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps training program, designed to imbue them with fundamental entrepreneurial skills, facilitating their technology’s commercialization.
Since its inception in 2014, the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition has distributed over $26 million to a variety of winners across the U.S. — including the first-time winnings for 65% of the 2024 first stage recipients. The competition has spurred innovation, job creation, and economic growth nationally, with successful startups generating an average of 121 job openings. The victors have leveraged approximately six times the award amount in external financing, truly showcasing the initiative’s impact on bolstering the innovation economy.
In the competition’s National and Economic Security category, several bodies across various states received recognition for their contributions. These include Alabama’s Catalyst Center for Business and Entrepreneurship, California’s Starburst Accelerator, Idaho’s Trailhead, and Colorado’s Catalyst Accelerator, among others. These organizations showcased the epitome of American innovation, merging transformative ideas with advanced technologies, emphasizing the importance of supporting economic growth, and safeguarding national interests.
