Discovery tool, not advice. Every figure is the published rule, not a decision on your case.

Prizes

SBA Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC)

Status

Status not published

Run as an annual competition; the 2025 round is closed and no 2026 round had been announced as of 14 August 2026. Watch americasseedfund.us and grants.gov.

Check with the funder

Amount

Not published

Prize amounts have changed every round and no 2026 round has been announced. In the 2025 round SBA awarded '$5.7 million in 2025 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) awards' with individual awardees receiving a '$75,000 prize'. Earlier rounds ran two stages: SBA's January 2024 announcement described '$50,000 to $200,000 in prize awards in two stages', and the 2023 round offered Stage Two cash prizes of $50,000 to $150,000. Do not assume a fixed ceiling.

Funder

U.S. Small Business Administration

public · national

Deadline: annual_call — Run as an annual competition; the 2025 round is closed and no 2026 round had been announced as of 14 August 2026. Watch americasseedfund.us and grants.gov.

Your odds

Not published

This funder does not publish a success rate. We rank it using the rate observed across similar programmes and label it as an estimate rather than implying we know.

Effort

moderate

Moderate — a form and supporting documents.

Who can apply

Sectors: deeptech, any
Stage: idea, pre_seed, seed
R&D activity required
Locally registered entity required

IMPORTANT: GAFC prizes go to entrepreneur support organizations (accelerators, incubators, ESOs), NOT directly to startups. Startups benefit indirectly through the services these organizations deliver. SBA describes it as for 'entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) focused on innovation-driven startups and entrepreneurs in underserved regions, industries, and communities'. Applicants must be registered in SAM.gov with a UEI, the practical gate for all federal prize and grant awards.

How to apply

Monitor SBA/America's Seed Fund for the annual GAFC announcement and theme areas (recent themes: Lab-to-Market and Capital Formation). — link
Register in SAM.gov to obtain a UEI, then submit the Stage One application via the competition portal / grants.gov. — link

What you will need

Application describing the gap in the local innovation ecosystem and the proposed solution
SAM.gov registration with UEI

Apply on the funder's site

Source. https://www.americasseedfund.us/accelerators — checked 2026-08-14

"$5.7 million in 2025 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) awards"