2025 NIA Start-Up Challenge and Accelerator
Awards up to $75,000 and a 5-month accelerator to entrepreneurs building aging-research startups.
Stage 1 submissions are scored by NIA staff and then technical reviewers against six weighted criteria out of 100 points -- significance, innovation, commercialization, the submitter's own background, the challenge's impact on the submitter, and the challenge's impact on NIA-funded small business research -- before a federal judging panel gives a final score and recommends top scorers for a screen…
Looking for researchers and entrepreneurs with science-driven technologies and products that could increase the impact and reach of NIA-funded small business research and development. Especially interested in submitters who would substantially benefit from intensive entrepreneurial training because of a background, lack of resources, or unique life experience that has limited their access to entrepreneurship.
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Guides for this application
All guides →NIH Biosketch Guide: Format, SciENcv Steps, and Examples
Learn what an NIH biosketch is, how the format works, what to prepare for SciENcv, and how startup teams should avoid common biosketch mistakes.
Write proposalHow to Write a Specific Aims Page
Learn how to write a specific aims page for NIH, SBIR-adjacent, and translational R&D grants, with structure, reviewer logic, examples, and common mistakes.
Where to applyGrants for Biotech Startups: NIH, NSF, SBIR/STTR, and Non-Dilutive Funding
A practical guide to grants for biotech startups, including NIH SBIR/STTR, NSF, translational funding, evidence, regulatory readiness, and budgets.
Write proposalHow to Write a Grant Proposal Reviewers Can Score
Learn how to write a grant proposal around reviewer criteria, evidence, work packages, budget logic, and commercialization for deeptech and R&D funding.
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