VertueLab Wins Stage One of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition
VertueLab was awarded $50,000 in prize money for equitable access to entrepreneurship.
PORTLAND, Ore. – Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced VertueLab as a Stage One winner for the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC). VertueLab will receive a $50,000 cash prize for its impactful and inclusive approach to nurturing a collaborative national innovation ecosystem to advance small business research and development (R&D) from ideas to the market.
By fostering connections between entrepreneurs, mentors, partners, philanthropies, corporations, investors, and other shared resources, GAFC 2024 catalyzes strategic ecosystem partnerships to build community and organizational capacity for the successful launch, growth, and scale of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)-based entrepreneurs.
VertueLab’s award-winning model will launch a new Just Climate Tech Transition strategy through a series of replicable hubs supporting the climate tech innovation that directly addresses the needs of local communities who are often first to bear the burden of climate change. “This award opportunity from SBA is pivotal in seeding a program that will enable regional and local communities in Oregon to co-design and engage with climate solutions that are critical to our wellbeing, and support the innovation that makes resilience possible,” said Aina Abiodun, President and Executive Director of VertueLab.
Two Stages
SBA welcomed Stage One submissions from a broad range of organizations with a collaborative vision to nurture a national ecosystem for equitable access to entrepreneurship. Winners of Stage One were selected through a multi-tier review panel process with experts in entrepreneurship, business, innovation, and strategic planning both inside and out of the federal government.
Stage Two offers an additional $50,000 to $150,000 in cash prizes for Growth Accelerator Partnerships. To learn more about Stage Two opportunities and to access the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition Guidelines, please visit https://www.americasseedfund.us/accelerators.
From inequity and climate change, to supporting national defense and community-driven economic prosperity, the real opportunity is now to build up innovation ecosystems and VertueLab is eager to deepen its collaborative impact in Sustainability and Biotechnology.
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About VertueLab
VertueLab is an established Pacific Northwest nonprofit accelerating and funding climate innovation that enables a just transition. By partnering with entrepreneurs, funders, and communities early and often over the last 15 years, VertueLab has enabled the development and deployment of nascent climate technologies across the region.
MEDIA CONTACT: Fiona Kang, fiona.kang@vertuelab.org
