In 2016, the City of Sacramento committed up to $1 million in grants for groups that drive acceleration, innovation & leadership for startups. After receiving over 100 applications, and going through an extensive review process with internal and external leaders, the following 15 organizatons were unanimously approved by the City Council for funding.
Hit space, swipe left, or click the orange arrow below to get started.
Leadership | Innovation | Acceleration | |
---|---|---|---|
Applications | 30 | 48 | 28 |
Total Requested | $4M | $2M | $1M |
Average | $168K | $76K | $40K |
(Swipe down for more... Or left to see the nominations)
The Economic Development Department (EDD), Information Technology Department (IT), and the Mayor's Office for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (MOFIE) reviewed and scored applications, with the Mayor’s Tech Council serving in an advisory capacity as industry experts. Top-ranking applicants were interviewed. Funding recommendations were developed using a competitive selection process based upon the following criteria:
Sheri Atwood (SupportPay), Erika Bjork (Sacramento Republic FC), Sonny Mayugba (Waitr), Viabhav Nadgauda (Moneta Ventures), Jay Sales (VSP Global), Tyler Smith (SkySlope)
Larry Burkhart, Melissa Anguiano, Veronica Smith (EDD); Maria MacGunigal (IT); Ash Roughani, Abhi Nemani (MOFIE)
The review processes consisted of online voting and scoring, in-person interviews, group discussions - both online and in-person - and every single application was reviewed and discussed by the review team.
Leadership ($175K) |
Elevate Project | Yellow Circle | Green Tech | Square Root | Operation Innovate |
Innovation ($288K) |
Hacker Lab | Apptology | Code4Sac | Rocket Dept | Dynasty Video |
Acceleration ($507K) |
I/O Labs | Velocity | E49 Corp | Founder Academy | Square One |