An Overview of the Kentucky
Enterprise Fund:
The Kentucky
Enterprise Fund is a series of
pre-seed and seed stage capital
funds that focus on the early stage
commercialization of a product,
technology, or process.
These funds are
designed to strengthen the knowledge
based economy in Kentucky through
advanced technology. The funds
are made available through an annual
$4.5M appropriation from the
Commonwealth of Kentucky through the
Council on Postsecondary Education
as part of of the New Economy
initiatives.
There are three
funds within the Kentucky Enterprise
Fund: The Rural Innovation Fund,
The R&D Voucher Fund, and the
Kentucky Commercialization Fund. A
brief description and links to
general guidelines for each of the
funds are given below.
To learn more about each fund,
follow the links below.
|
Program |
Purpose |
Funding |
Eligibility |
|
Rural Innovation Fund
Level 1
Level 2 |
Investment
in proof of concept
development or early stage
prototype. |
Level 1 - A
one time investment up to
$25,000.
Level 2 - Up to $100,000
over two years, not to
exceed $50,000 in any one
year. Includes Level 1
investments. |
Rural
Kentucky based companies
with less than 150 employees
Must use funds to contract with a third party
|
|
R&D Voucher Fund
|
Investment
in technology refinement,
prototype development, and
commercial product
development. |
Up to
$200,000 over two years, not
to exceed $100,000 in any
one year |
Kentucky-based companies
with less than 150 employees
Must contract with an accredited postsecondary institution.
Company match investment
funding 1:1 |
|
Kentucky Commercialization
Fund |
Investment
in university- based
technology
commercialization.
|
Up to
$225,000 over three years,
not to exceed $75,000 in any
one year |
Proposal
must come from university
for university
based research projects
|
Application Dates:
Please see Fund Detail Pages
General Application
and Due Diligence Guidelines:
The application process was
designed to emulate the venture
capital due diligence process.
Applicants must step through three
screens of increasingly more
detailed analysis before an
investment decision is made. The
heart of the due
diligence process is a technical and
business analysis. The intent is to
invest in those companies that have
the greatest probability of
successfully commercializing a
technology and capturing a
significant market share.
Before you start the application
process, please contact your local
Innovation
Center Director.
Please refer to our
Frequently Asked Questions for
program background.
