SBA announces competition for business accelerators

Business accelerators are invited to compete for prizes of $50,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Maria Contreras-Sweet, head of the SBA, announced the launch of the agency”™s second annual Accelerator Growth Fund competition, which awards prizes from a pool of funding totaling $4 million.

The program is designed for accelerators, incubators, co-working startup communities and other entrepreneurial ecosystem models. The SBA said priority is given to organizations that support or are headed by women or other underrepresented groups, are in areas with fewer conventional sources of capital or that have a focus on manufacturing. The agency will accept applications from April 10 through June 1.

Thirty-two percent of last year”™s accelerator winners were run by women and 14 percent were classified as underrepresented groups.

“We know that accelerators provide valuable resources to potential startups: a physical infrastructure to work in their infancy, mentoring, business-plan assistance, networking, opportunities to obtain venture capital, and introductions to potential customers, partners and suppliers ”” all critical elements to ensuring that small businesses flourish and succeed,” Contreras-Sweet said.

Contreras-Sweet made the announcement at Manufacture New York, a Brooklyn facility that houses a fashion incubator and factory for independent designers. It received a $50,000 prize last fall in the inaugural competition.

Winners will be announced on Aug.24.

Additional information about the program is available at sba.gov/accelerators.  For questions, comments or an application, contact accelerators@sba.gov.