GRA Innovation & Entrepreneurship — Exploratory Grants

GRA I&E Exploratory Grant

Supports Georgia university researchers with feasibility testing and demand validation funding.

The Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) public-private partnership founded in 1990 and funded in part by more than $728 million in State of Georgia investment since 1991. Its Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) grant programs exist to drive commercialization value from research conducted at Georgia's eight partner universities: University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Emory, Georgia State University, Augusta University, Mercer University, Clark Atlanta University, and Morehouse School of Medicine. The Exploratory Grant tier is the entry-level mechanism within the I&E portfolio, providing up to $10,000 per project to answer foundational questions about technology feasibility, market demand, and viability.

Eligible activities are specifically defined: technical experiments, prototype testing, benchmarking, and customer discovery. Awards are limited in scope and are explicitly designed as a foundation for subsequent I&E funding rather than as standalone commercialization projects. GRA does not fund indirect (F&A) costs under any I&E grant; budgets must cover only direct project expenses. The program operates on six named annual funding cycles, which adds planning predictability for researchers. Applicants must be faculty or researchers at one of the eight partner universities; researchers at other accredited Georgia institutions may contact GRA directly but acceptance is not guaranteed.

The application process runs through each university's designated GRA representative rather than directly through GRA. Researchers contact their institutional representative, who provides proposal templates and coordinates submission. Strong proposals are expected to articulate clear technical or commercialization objectives, define testable milestones with go/no-go decision points, and demonstrate a credible competitive advantage over existing solutions. For cycle dates and representative contacts, applicants reach out via Grants@GRA.org or Andrew.Short@gra.org.