The GEM Startup Proof-of-Concept Grants provide flexible funding to emerging ventures that have originated in the Goleta/Santa Barbara area, and that have completed their discovery phase. The purpose of these grants is to help entrepreneurs:
- Fund small-scale prototypes and/or pilot projects designed to gather data on customer demand and insight; and,
- Help the founders reach a critical milestone to access angel investment and/or bring a product to market.
Eligible applicants include pre-seed stage startups launched in the past 1-2 years and individuals/teams looking to launch within the timeframe of the grant. Included in this group are UCSB startups/teams, startups based in Goleta/Santa Barbara, or startups looking to relocate to the Goleta/Santa Barbara area.
Awards of up to $10,000 over a period of 6 months can be applied towards a variety of uses including, but not limited to, rental expense offsets at UCSB-based incubators, development of a Minimum Viable Product (e.g., labor, equipment, supplies, etc.), and fee offsets for use of UCSB recharge facilities. Exceptions are considered. GEM will not take any equity in the new venture, but applicants concede to be included from time to time in GEM-related publicity such as newsletters, panels, and social media postings.
Three-Page (max) pdf pre-proposals should be submitted online (below) and include the following information:
- Amount and duration requested
- Company profile
- Business concept (market definition and value proposition)
- Team
- Company stage of life (including how much funding the company has raised to date and the nature of the funding source)
- Customer discovery results (business model testing, customer traction and/or market validation)
- Scope of work for Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
- Timeline for development of MVP
- How the funding will be used (budget and justification)
- What will be catalyzed/enabled by the funding
- Funding raised, to date (if any)
- Future/potential sources of funding (if any)
- The degree to which the company has been or will be involved with UCSB and/or Goleta/Santa Barbara
Pre-proposals will be evaluated on a quarterly basis and on the following criteria:
- Impact – will the funds make a real difference for the applicant?
- Proposal merit
- Is proposed work doable within the timeframe?
- Is the proposed budget reasonable relative to expected costs?
- Team/company promise or track record of success
- Integration into GEM Innovation & Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
- Has the team/startup been involved in programming offered by the city or UCSB, to date?
- Will the team/startup use services from the city and UCSB during the grant period?
- How will the team/company connect to UCSB and Goleta after the grant period?
Final applications will involve a 15-minute in-person “pitch” to the grant selection committee composed of GEM board members and 1-2 external advisors.
