DURHAM — NC IDEA Foundation keeps showing ’em the money. North Carolina startups, that is.

Today, the private foundation set up to support new ventures announced that it has awarded seed grants totally $300,000 to six North Carolina startups from a diverse NC IDEA SEED applicant pool.

Since its inception in 2006, the NC IDEA SEED program has awarded nearly $6.5 million in non-dilutive grants to 148 innovative companies across the state.

It comes on the heels of the group offering 15 fledgling startups grants totaling $150,00o from the NC IDEA MICRO fund.

NC IDEA awards 15 emerging startups grants in $150,000 Micro program

“With yet another diverse cohort of companies spanning everything from advanced manufacturing, tech and SaaS to consumer products, I think we can now safely conclude that North Carolina is blessed with a deep bench of high-growth potential companies being led by very passionate entrepreneurs,” said Thom Ruhe, CEO and President of NC IDEA, in a statement.

“Even though we just concluded this cycle, I look forward to seeing the types of companies we can help in the Spring 2020 cycle – which opens in early February,” Ruhe concluded.

The following six Fall 2019 NC IDEA SEED grant recipients were chosen after a three-month competitive application and selection process that drew 182 applications from across the state:

  • Advanced Hydrogen Technologies Corporation, Hickory:  AHTC offers a superior, high-performance chisel for hydraulic breakers that retains its point with 100 times more wear resistance, aiming to save customers thousands of dollars annually.
  • GoodRoads, Charlotte: GoodRoads is building software, hardware and a community to help pavement managers and those responsible for scheduling road maintenance make better decisions, faster without needing a bigger budget.
  • Green Stream Technologies, Raleigh: Green Stream Technologies is an environmental Internet of Things (eIoT) firm making it more affordable for government and commercial customers to monitor and report environmental conditions – in real time and in high-resolution detail not previously feasible. Better data is key to better response, better decisions and better predictions.
  • MUUKTEST, Raleigh:  Up to 50% of software development time is spent on testing. Using hybrid artificial intelligence models, MuukTest gives manual and automation testers superpowers that make them 26X faster and helps growing software companies build disruptive products faster, without armies of test engineers.
  • Pip & Grow, Davidson: Every year 3,500 babies in the US die from SIDS and suffocation. Pip & Grow provides parents – who sometimes choose convenient, but unsafe sleep spaces like bouncy seats, boppies and swings for their babies – a portable, affordable option with their Smitten baby box to put baby to bed – safely – anywhere.
  • Protopia, Cary: Protopia’s “Friendraising” AI helps universities activate donors by connecting their alumni, students and supporters – at scale and with ease.

Separately, NC IDEA plans to host the inaugural North Carolina Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Summit at the Hilton Raleigh North Hills from November 18-19.