SCRA Academic Startup Grant

SCRA Academic Startup Grant

Funds South Carolina university spinouts through SCRA academic startup support translating lab work into ventures.

Eligibility · United States · US-SC

The SCRA Academic Startup Grant provides up to $25,000 in non-dilutive funding to startups commercializing intellectual property developed at South Carolina universities. Administered by the South Carolina Research Authority — a public non-profit corporation chartered by the State of South Carolina in 1983 — the grant addresses the specific commercialization gap faced by academic spinouts that have generated licensable IP at a state institution but lack the early capital needed to validate commercial viability. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis with no fixed annual deadline, making the programme accessible throughout the year.

To be eligible, the applicant must be a for-profit company that is actively commercializing IP originating from a South Carolina university, and the company must be South Carolina-based. Like all SCRA grant programmes, the Academic Startup Grant is available only to SCRA member companies; membership is invitation-only with an acceptance rate below 40 percent, and all member companies must submit an Annual Economic Impact Assessment. The grant is distinct from SCRA's broader Startup Grant in its spinout-specific requirement: a traceable link to academic IP from a South Carolina institution is mandatory. Full eligibility criteria, page limits, and the scoring rubric are contained in a separate criteria PDF (August 2025 edition) published at scra.org and must be reviewed before submitting.

Successful recipients use the grant to achieve defined commercialization milestones, consistent with SCRA's milestone-based disbursement model. Companies that advance beyond this stage may be considered for SCRA's Acceleration Grant (up to $50,000) or referred to SC Launch Inc. — SCRA's separate equity-investment affiliate — once they meet the criteria for institutional investment. The programme sits within SCRA's Innovation Hubs network, which operates across six regions in South Carolina and provides member companies with workspace, coaching, and access to the broader SCRA ecosystem. Prospective applicants should initiate the member company application process through scra.org.