[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 120 (Friday, June 23, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28729-28730]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13074]


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SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION


Announcement of Growth Accelerator Fund Competition

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business Administration.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announces the 
2017 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition, pursuant to the America 
Competes Act, to recognize the nation's most innovative accelerators 
and award them cash prizes they may use to fund their operations costs 
and allow them to bring startup companies to scale and new ideas to 
life.

DATES: The submission period for entries begins 12:00 p.m. EDT, June 
23, 2017 and ends July 21, 2017 at 4:59 p.m. EDT. Winners will be 
announced no later than Fall 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nagesh Rao, Office of Investment and 
Innovation, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 Third Street SW., 
6th Floor, Washington, DC 20416, (202) 205-6565, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Competition Details

    1. Subject of Competition: The SBA is seeking to identify the 
nation's most innovative and promising small business accelerators and 
incubators in order to infuse them with additional resource capital 
that ultimately stimulates the growth and development of startups from 
within the entrepreneurial communities they serve. For the purposes of 
this Competition, Growth Accelerators include accelerators, incubators, 
co-working startup communities, shared tinker-spaces or other models to 
accomplish similar goals. Regardless of the specific model employed, 
Growth Accelerators focus on helping entrepreneurs and their startups 
speed the launch, growth and scale of their businesses. A broad set of 
models used to support start-ups will better serve the entire 
entrepreneurial ecosystem. Whether an accelerator is industry focused, 
technology focused, product centric, cohort based or more long term, 
all are valuable players in the nation's high-growth entrepreneurial 
ecosystem that ultimately creates jobs.
    2. Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Competition: This 
Competition is open only to previous Growth Accelerator Fund 
Competition Winners (2014-2016). Previous winners should be established 
private entities, such as corporations or non-profit organizations that 
are already incorporated and maintain a primary place of business and 
operation in the United States. Entities that have an outstanding, 
unresolved financial obligation to, or that are currently suspended or 
debarred by, the Federal Government are not eligible for this 
Competition. Federal, state, local and tribal agencies are also not 
eligible for this Competition.
    3. Registration and Entry Submission Process for Contestants: 
Contestants must submit their 2017 Growth Accelerator Fund applications 
online using the link designated for that purpose on www.sba.gov/accelerators, where the link will be posted. In addition to the basic 
details collected in that short application form, contestants must also 
complete and submit deck, similar to one that would be used in a pitch 
competition, which must address all of the items identified below:
Mission and Vision

     What is your accelerator's mission in one sentence?
     What specific elements make your accelerator model stand 
out?
     What experiences prepare your team for this?

Impact

     What gaps does or will your accelerator and/or thrust/
program fill?
     What are the specifics of your model and how it will 
accomplish the above?
     What has been your success/metrics so far?
     Please explain your overall statistics of the start-up 
life cycle?

Implementation

     What is your plan for the prize money if you win?
     Provide basics of business plan and phases for 
implementation.
     Aside from the founding team members, what do you look for 
in staff?
     What are the largest risk factors you see?

Metrics

     What are your fundraising goals or metrics? (aside from 
the 4-to-1 match)
     Is there a plan in place to secure/work to secure funds 
(cash, in-kind donations, or sponsorships) in a 4-to-1 proportion to 
the prize dollars received?
     Aside from metrics required by SBA, what are 5 key metrics 
you will use to self-evaluate?
     What does success look like?
    Additionally, participants in this Competition must utilize models 
of operation that include most, if not all, of the following elements:
     Selective process to choose participating startups.
     Regular networking opportunities offered to startups.
     Introductions to customers, partners, suppliers, advisory 
boards and other players.
     High-growth and tech-driven startup mentorship and 
commercialization assistance.
     Shared working environments focused on building a strong 
startup community.
     Resource sharing and co-working arrangements for startups.
     Opportunities to pitch ideas and startups to investors 
along with other capital formation avenues to startups.
     Small amounts of angel money, seed capital or structured 
loans to startups.
     Service to underserved communities, such as women, 
veterans, and economically disadvantaged individuals.
    4. Prizes for Winners: Prizes will be paid in lump sum via the 
Automated Clearing House (ACH). Winners will be required to create an 
account in the System for Award Management (SAM) in order to receive an 
award, and should have their paperwork and system's credentials 
established prior to receipt of the award.
    5. Selection of Winners: Competition entries will be evaluated by a 
review committee that may be compromised of SBA officials, including 
District Office employees, other federal agencies, and/or private 
sector experts. Winners will be selected based upon how well they 
address the criteria identified in Items 2 and 3 of this Competition 
announcement. In judging entries, special consideration will be given 
to those accelerator models which support one or more of the following:

 STEM/Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)
 Women-Owned or Minority-Owned Small Businesses (Underserved 
Communities)
 Rural Communities

[[Page 28730]]

 Veterans Focused Communities

In addition, in order to achieve nationwide distribution of prizes for 
the purpose of stimulating the growth and development of startups 
across the entire United States, SBA may take into account applicants' 
geographic locations and areas of service when selecting winners, 
including support to geographic regions that traditionally have limited 
access to capital, the underserved, women, the maker community, and 
American Indian, Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian populations.
    6. Applicable Law: This Competition is being conducted by SBA 
pursuant to the government wide prize competition authority at 15 
U.S.C. 3719. By participating in this Competition, each contestant 
gives its full and unconditional agreement to the Official Rules and 
the related administrative decisions described in this notice, which 
are final and binding in all matters related to the Competition. 
Contestants remain solely responsible for complying with all applicable 
federal laws, including licensing, export control, and nonproliferation 
laws, and related regulations. A contestant's eligibility for a prize 
award is contingent upon their fulfilling all requirements identified 
in this notice. Publication of this notice is not an obligation of 
funds on the part of SBA. SBA reserves the right to modify or cancel 
this Competition, in whole or in part, at any time prior to the award 
of prizes.
    7. Conflicts of Interest: No individual acting as a judge at any 
stage of this Competition may have personal or financial interests in, 
or be an employee, officer, director, or agent of any contestant or 
have a familial or financial relationship with a contestant.
    8. Intellectual Property Rights: All entries submitted in response 
to this Competition will remain the sole intellectual property of the 
individuals or organizations that developed them. By registering and 
entering a submission, each contestant represents and warrants that it 
is the sole author and copyright owner of the submission, and that the 
submission is an original work of the contestant, or if the submission 
is a work based on an existing application, that the contestant has 
acquired sufficient rights to use and to authorize others to use the 
submission, and that the submission does not infringe upon any 
copyright or upon any other third party rights of which the contestant 
is aware. Additionally, by registering and entering a submission, each 
contestant agrees to grant SBA an irrevocable, non-exclusive, 
worldwide, royalty-free license to use materials, concepts, and other 
similar items of intellectual property proposed in, or developed during 
operations conducted pursuant to, its submission for purposes 
consistent with the Agency's mission.
    9. Publicity Rights: By registering and entering a submission, each 
contestant consents to SBA's and its agents' use, in perpetuity, of its 
name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions, and/or hometown and state 
information for promotional or informational purposes through any form 
of media, worldwide, without further payment or consideration.
    10. Liability and Insurance Requirements: By registering and 
entering a submission, each contestant agrees to assume any and all 
risks and waive claims against the Federal Government and its related 
entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, 
death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether 
direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from their participation in 
this Competition, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises 
through negligence or otherwise. Given this Competition does not 
involve potentially hazardous activities or the use of government 
property, contestants are not required to obtain liability insurance or 
demonstrate financial resources to cover claims by a third party for 
death, bodily injury, or property damage or loss resulting from any 
activity it carries out in connection with its participation in this 
Competition, or claims by the Federal Government for damage or loss to 
Government property resulting from such an activity.
    11. Record Retention and Disclosure: All submissions and related 
materials provided to SBA in the course of this Competition 
automatically become SBA records and cannot be returned. Contestants 
should identify any confidential commercial information contained in 
their entries at the time of their submission.
    Award Approving Official: John R. Williams, Director, Office of 
Innovation and Technology, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 
Third Street SW., Washington, DC 20416.

    Authority:  15 U.S.C. 3719

    Dated: June 15, 2017.
John R. Williams,
Director, Office of Innovation and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2017-13074 Filed 6-22-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8025-01-P