Main Street Ventures’ Funding Programs – US

This no-strings attached funding model supports:

• Bold Ideas: Grants allow founders to take bold ideas to the next level without investor limits.
• Inclusion: Supporting good ideas across all spaces encourages innovation in the community.
• Growth: Accessible, debt-free funding creates opportunities for other financial support.

Programs

• Launch Funding
  • Launch Funding provides emerging, pre-revenue businesses that have a Prototype or Product (showing clear evidence of direct customer engagement validating the business model and product) with $5,000 – $10,000 of equity free funding to continue development and prepare for market entry.
• Leap Funding
  • Leap Funding provides promising, revenue-generating businesses with $10,000 – $30,000 of equity-free funding to scale their community impact and increase the odds of long-term survival. Funding is awarded to businesses that demonstrate the potential to continue to create jobs and opportunities in the Greater Cincinnati Region.

Eligibility & Requirements

• Business Type
  • Applicant must be a business entity (C-Corp, S-Corp, or LLC) with a Federal Tax ID (EIN).
    • At this time, they allow applications from all industries​.
• Business Location
  • Business Entity must be located in the Greater Cincinnati region (Hamilton, Butler, Clermont and Warren counties in Ohio; Boone, Campbell, and Kenton counties in Kentucky; and Dearborn County in Indiana). Grant requests from other regions will NOT be considered.
• Application Responses
  • Businesses must show customer demand and strong progression since the founding.
  • Funding requests must focus on specific growth projects. MSV defines a growth project as a step that will help accelerate your business growth.
    • MSV Grant Funding is designed to help businesses scale by covering key Direct Costs, not General Operating Expenses.
      • Examples of Direct Expenses that ARE suitable for Grant Funds: Key pieces of equipment, Packaging Support, Technology Product Development, etc.
      • Examples of General Operating Expenses that are not suitable for Grant Funds: Existing Payroll, Rent, Insurance, Marketing, Legal Fees, etc.
  • Businesses must explain the impact of Grant Funds on the business OR the Cincinnati Region.
• Special Consideration will be granted to:
  • Women and Minority-Owned businesses
  • Businesses that can show matching funds from other sources.

For more information, visit Main Street Ventures.