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Spark Grant Application Deadline

Sunday, March 14, 2021 at 11:59pm

Virtual Event

Are you a student innovator interested in developing an idea or launching a new product or service?

Spark Grants provide student entrepreneurs with the funding they need to get their ideas off the ground.

About the Grants/Eligibility:

Spark Grants are $500 grants (free money!) geared towards students with proposed product or service ideas that warrant further investigation. As grants, this money need never be repaid—as long as the guidelines below are followed. (Please note, however, that the grants may be considered taxable income.)

Spark Grants allow students to further examine the feasibility of a project, in order to make an informed decision about whether it makes sense to commit further time and resources. Funds can be used for a number of different purposes—developing a prototype, connecting with potential customers, digging deep into the competition, etc.—as long as the aim is to uncover the merits and challenges surrounding an idea. As reflected in both the short execution time and the limited funding, the purpose of the grant is to enable the rapid assessment of potential value in the idea, not to fully build it out.

Grants are open to any University of Oregon student, undergraduate or graduate, in any discipline. (If there’s a team involved, at least one member of the team needs to be a university student.) Ventures big or small, high- or low-tech, and for-profit or non-profit are all eligible for consideration.

Spark Grants are just one step along the pathway to launching a venture. Students receiving Spark Grants are encouraged to apply for larger RAINmaker $5,000 seed grants—which focus on business development and validation—if they choose to pursue the venture.

View more information on how to apply (PDF).

For additional entreprenerial resources, check out the UO Innovate website.

Applications are due on Sunday, March 14 at 11:59 p.m.

Questions? Contact Kate Harmon, Director of Cross-Campus Engagement, Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship at kharmon2@uoregon.edu.

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