Accelerating Concept to Commercialization in Kansas (ACCEL-KS)

Eligible organizations are incubators or innovation hubs with proven expertise in business development, commercialization support and/or R&D assistance.

Key Program Components

Applications should address the following program components:

• Technical Assistance: Describe how your organization will provide or access technical expertise in R&D, including prototyping, testing, validation, and strategies for commercialization.
• Collaborative Networks: Outline partnerships with universities, industry, R&D facilities, and support organizations that will enhance service delivery. Include details on access to specialized facilities or personnel, as well as how they will convene ecosystem partners regularly and coordinate referrals or shared services.
• Proof of Concept Development: Explain how your organization will assist innovators and businesses in validating their technologies, including advanced testing, prototyping, market analysis, and planning for commercialization.
• Research and Development: Explain how your organization will assist innovators, idea-stage businesses, and early-stage businesses in their efforts to develop and/or improve products and services.
• Funding Support and Resources: Outline your approach to facilitate financial support for innovators and businesses, such as grants, convertible funding, or facilitating external investment.
• Measuring Success: Provide a plan for evaluating program success, tracking metrics, and outcomes related to product development, commercialization, and business capacity enhancement.

Available Funding: Up to $1,000,000.00

Matching Requirements: A minimum 25% cash match for requested grant funds is required (approximately $125,000 of max. award amount). In-kind contributions and relevant assets should be leveraged and detailed in the narrative but will not count towards this match requirement

All applications must be submitted by May 9^th, 2025, by 5:00 p.m. CST. Late submissions will not be considered.

Applications should not exceed ten (10) pages. A detailed budget spreadsheet must be provided, as well as a one (1) page narrative justifying each line item. Additional documents can be provided as appendices but should not exceed five (5) pages total. Any pages that exceed the defined limits will not be scored by the review team. Applications can be submitted in Microsoft Office (Word and Excel) or Adobe PDF formats.

We encourage all eligible and interested organizations to reach out with any questions or to request additional information through the following contact:

Name: Brandon Hutton, Director of Innovation Development and Programming

Email: [email protected]

Informational sessions about the grant application will be available virtually on April 11, 2025, from 10:00-11:00 a.m. and on April 23, 2025, from 2:00-3:00 p.m. Attendance to these sessions are not mandatory. A letter of intent is not required for this grant application.