DURHAM - NC IDEA, a private foundation committed to supporting entrepreneurial ambition and economic empowerment in North Carolina, announced today that the organization has awarded $160,000 to sixteen North Carolina startups in its twelfth NC IDEA MICRO grant cycle. Since the inaugural cycle in 2018, NC IDEA MICRO has awarded over $1.9 million to 193 young companies across the state.

Through small, project-based grants, NC IDEA MICRO awards $10,000 in funding to young companies looking to validate and advance their idea. The program, piloted in Spring 2018, was created to expand the Foundation’s long-standing SEED grant program to provide funding to younger, promising startups not yet positioned for the Foundation’s traditional $50,000 grants.

The sixteen NC IDEA MICRO grant recipients were chosen after a three-month competitive application and selection process that drew 211 applications from across the state:

• Arclet – Asheville, NC
• Artificially Digital – Cary, NC
• Blockchain Power, LLC – RTP, NC
• Copy and Post LLC – Swannanoa, NC
• DEXIT – Charlotte, NC
• DISHEFS LLC – Waxhaw, NC
• Kahmino – Cary, NC
• Local Catch LLC – Wilmington, NC
• Loom3d – Raleigh, NC
• MESA – Davidson, NC
• Nicelle Technologies – Raleigh, NC
• Parking Pin – Cary, NC
• Previewed Inc – Greensboro, NC
• Razored Technologies – Concord, NC
• Theralinq – Raleigh, NC
• Varsity Bridge – Cary, NC