Elevate Ventures Awards Business Startup Grants

Monday, November 22, 2021 05:04 PM EDT
By Mary Roberts, Writer/Reporter

Indianapolis-based Elevate Ventures has awarded $164,000 in grants to support expansion of entrepreneurship programming. The funding, which is being awarded to 11 organizations around the state, is part of Elevate’s total $1.6 million investment in startups made through Elevate Nexus Pitch Competitions over the last year.

“The Elevate Nexus program is a vital part of the state of Indiana’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. At Purdue, we count on it to provide funding that allows us to offer services that will move our companies closer to being fundable so that they can make an impact on the world,” said Bill Arnold, assistant vice president of Purdue Research Foundation. “This year, we are using the funds to launch our new accelerator program, Boost, which aims to take up to ten companies forward in their funding journey.”

The grants are being awarded to the organizations below:

  • DePauw University, Greencastle
  • Dimension Mill, Bloomington
  • Indiana University, Bloomington
  • IUPUI, Indianapolis
  • Orr Fellowship, Indianapolis
  • Purdue University, West Lafayette
  • Purdue University–Northwest, Hammond
  • Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute
  • Startup South Bend-Elkhart, South Bend
  • TechPoint, Indianapolis
  • University of Notre Dame, South Bend

Elevate Ventures says Purdue plans to use its grant to support Boost, a new accelerator program for startups. Last month, Purdue Foundry Managing Director Bill Arnold appeared on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick to talk about the Boost program. You can watch the full interview by clicking here.

The organization says the new round is the second set of grants it has distributed.