NC IDEA offers two competitive grant programs for North Carolina-based for-profit startups. The SEED Grant provides $50,000 to early-stage companies with a proven concept that are pursuing venture capital within two years or $2M+ in annual revenue within five years. The MICRO grant supports earlier-stage concepts. Both programs include mentorship and guidance alongside funding. The Spring 2026 grant cycle is currently open. Companies may apply to either MICRO or SEED — not both — during a given cycle. NC IDEA evaluates companies addressing large, rapidly growing markets with a unique value proposition and clear path to scale. Applications and eligibility comparisons are available at the NC IDEA website.

The Department of Defense FY2026 Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) provides funding for U.S. universities to acquire research equipment and instrumentation in areas important to national defense, including AI and machine learning hardware. The program is administered jointly by the Army Research Office (ARO), Office of Naval Research (ONR), and Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), with approximately $34 million available and 95 awards anticipated. DURIP funds the acquisition of specialized computing hardware for AI/ML research (GPU clusters, TPUs, neuromorphic processors), robotics and autonomous systems testbeds, sensor arrays and data collection systems for machine learning training, high-performance computing infrastructure for defense-relevant AI research, and laboratory equipment for human-AI interaction studies. The program specifically supports equipment that enhances research-related education in DoD-priority disciplines. While general-purpose computing is not eligible, computing equipment directly supporting DoD-relevant AI research programs qualifies. No cost sharing is required.