NJ Accelerate

NJ Accelerate — Accelerator Event Grants & Rent Support

Funds accelerator events and startup studio support for New Jersey innovation companies building scalable teams.

Eligibility · United States · US-NJ

NJ Accelerate is a two-component rolling program administered by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority that supports both qualifying accelerators and the technology companies that graduate from them. In the first component, pre-qualified accelerators receive per-event grants of up to $2,000 per event, capped at $20,000 in total event grant funding per accelerator. The second component provides graduate companies from those pre-qualified accelerators with rent support grants of up to $25,000, covering up to six months of occupancy costs at a New Jersey commercial facility. Both components are structured as grants; a separate convertible note instrument of up to $250,000 is also available for graduate companies but is a distinct debt/equity product not covered here.

Graduate companies must belong to an innovation sector targeted by the program — clean energy, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and comparable technology-intensive fields. To be eligible, a company must have graduated from an NJEDA pre-qualified accelerator, have a minimum of two founders working full-time in New Jersey, maintain at least 50% of its workforce in New Jersey, and hold a current NJ tax clearance certificate. Applications from graduate companies must be submitted within six months of accelerator graduation; that six-month window is a hard deadline.

Applications are submitted by email to NJAccelerate@njeda.gov — the accelerator itself must receive pre-qualification from NJEDA before any of its graduates become eligible. The program accepts applications on a rolling basis with no stated end date. Accelerators seeking pre-qualification and companies wishing to confirm topic-sector eligibility should contact NJEDA directly at NJAccelerate@njeda.gov. Companies interested in the convertible note component should inquire separately, as that instrument carries different terms and underwriting criteria than the rent support grant.