WASHINGTON– Today,  Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice in President Biden’s Cabinet for America’s 33 million small businesses, announced the SBA’s 2023 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition Stage Two winners. Thirty-five award-winning accelerator partnerships will receive $150,000 each to help advance equitable investment in innovative startups and high-growth small businesses across several priorities, including National Security & Global Competitiveness, Domestic Manufacturing and Production, Climate and Renewable Energy, and Underserved Communities.

“Through the SBA’s 2023 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition awards, the Biden-Harris Administration is delivering on its commitment to entrepreneurship, competition, and equity,” said Administrator Guzman.  “This network of accelerators will help ensure high-growth small businesses and innovative startups have access to resources and networks to scale in critical technologies across America.”

In 2023, the SBA introduced a new two-stage format for the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition. In May, Stage One Catalyze winners received $50,000 to build capacity and connections across the U.S. innovation ecosystem, focused on themes of National Security & Global Competitiveness, Domestic Manufacturing and Production, Climate and Renewable Energy, and Underserved Communities.

The SBA awarded 40 Stage One prizes to organizations from 30 states and territories, including D.C. and Puerto Rico, and invited them to apply for Stage Two of the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition.  During Stage Two, the SBA will provide $150,000 to ecosystem partnerships led by Stage One winners to promote equitable access to resources and accelerate support to high-growth STEM and R&D-focused small businesses.

Click here for full news release from the SBA