Online applications for the 2014 PTP Next Business Competition are open until March 2nd through the PTP Next website (www.ptpnext.com). The competition is open to innovation-based entrepreneurial companies that are headquartered in the Piedmont Triad region and have unique products, processes and/or technologies that address large, growing markets with a scalable business model.
Grants are highly competitive and are awarded based on identifying specific business activities that can move the business through an important hurdle or next step. Details on eligibility and qualifications are available on the PTP Next website. PTP Next grants usually range from $10,000 to $20,000 with the exact amount based on a collaborative determination of the best use of grant funds.
“Our region has a strong entrepreneurial base, and we are focused on fostering growth of innovation-based companies,” said David Powell, president and CEO of the Piedmont Triad Partnership. “As a leadership organization, we are sponsoring PTP Next to accelerate a culture of entrepreneurship, innovation and economic engagement. The response to our previous competitions proved our region has momentum.”
Two companies were selected in the first PTP Next competition held in 2011. RFMED Solutions, a provider of wireless patient monitoring systems for the health care facilities market, received a $25,000 grant for market and customer validation research. Innovative Applied Solutions, creator of new technologies that allow developers and engineers to comply with increasingly expensive environmental regulations, received $20,000 to patent its first product and to accelerate its sales program.
Arctic, Inc. was awarded a $20,000 grant in the 2012 competition. Arctic’s first product, the Frostbite Natural Control System, uses carbon dioxide frost to control weeds for use by consumers, professional turf managers, golf courses, and sports fields.
“Our PTP Next grant is ensuring that we’ve got patent protection locked down in some key non-U.S. nations, many of whose environmental regulations create ready markets for our product. We’re only six months into our grant, but we’ve made big strides in building out our supply chain and distribution systems,” said Arctic CEO Gina Stewart. “We’ve also gained exposure to some new potential investors.”
PTP Next is working closely with many Piedmont Triad and state economic development programs, academic and research organizations and foundations, both to identify potential grant recipients and to provide technical support and networking opportunities for interested entrepreneurs. Current partners include the Angell Center for Entrepreneurship at Wake Forest University, Anomaly Squared, Bell Foundation, Datamax Foundation, Elon University School of Law, Gateway University Research Park, Greensboro Partnership Entrepreneurship Initiative, High Point University, Lincoln Financial Foundation, NC A& T, NC Entrepreneurship Center at UNCG, NC SBTDC, Nussbaum Center for Entrepreneurship, Piedmont Angel Network, Shamrock Corporation, Wake Forest Innovations, Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce and Winston-Salem State University.
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About PTP Next
PTP Next is a volunteer organization where young business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors combine their efforts to support the Triad’s entrepreneurial community and fuel its future economic vitality. The PTP Next Business Competition is a Triad-wide entrepreneurial funding competition launched in 2011. Over the past three years, PTP Next has awarded approximately $100,000 to five start-up companies across the Triad.
About the Piedmont Triad Partnership
The Piedmont Triad Partnership is a private, nonprofit, economic development organization that works to leverage the identity, resources and future of the Piedmont Triad Region as a world-class business location. The Piedmont Triad, the nation’s 37th-largest metro region with more than 1.6 million residents, includes the counties of Alamance, Caswell, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Montgomery, Randolph, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin.