Statewide RFP

• Applied researchers at all 16 UNC System universities are eligible for grants through NCI. Private companies are not eligible to serve as lead institution.  
• Institutions in the North Carolina Community Colleges System are eligible for funding. At this stage, we recommend that community colleges participate by partnering with one or more universities to pursue funding, but we anticipate future programs will target community colleges more directly as we build out the granting process.   
• Proposals must define a technology at a TRL of three or higher. Any proposed projects with a TRL of less than three will not be considered for funding and will not advance past the pre-proposal stage. This ensures that only projects with demonstrable potential for commercialization and scalability are considered. 
• NCI is committed to remaining industry agnostic and accepts applications from all technology sectors.  
• NCI prioritizes projects with the highest potential for commercialization and economic impact in NC.  

• Amounts: In this Request for Proposals (RFP), NCI does not currently have a set minimum or maximum award amount. We anticipate that most awards will fall within the range of $200 K – $1 M but amounts may vary depending on the scale of the proposed project.  Grants will be awarded in tranches provided researchers meet defined milestones, rather than in one lump sum. 
• Duration: The award duration is two years, and all awardees remain eligible for future rounds of NCI grant funding, depending on the performance from a previous NCI award. Funding will be released in tranches based on completion of milestones as defined in your proposal (see Award Format section below). 
• Format: NCI awards are milestone-based, meaning that the proposing team will define a set of milestones as part of the proposal process, and the team will be evaluated against those milestones. Funding will be released based on the completion of milestones as defined in your proposal. The exact funding schedule remains to be determined, but in most cases the funding will be released in annual tranches if milestones are met. As a condition of funding, NCI requires that companies created to commercialize the resulting IP out of NCI-funded projects maintain a physical presence in North Carolina for a minimum of five years to maximize economic development opportunities within the state. Companies that do not fulfill this request are subject to claw back provisions

NCInnovation anticipates two funding cycles per year. We will accept proposals on a rolling basis, but all proposals for a given cycle/deadline will be reviewed simultaneously. Information on deadlines will be updated on the website.

The deadline for the next pre-application is Wednesday, May 13th, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET. Applicants can anticipate hearing a response from NCI within one to two months from the pre-application deadline.

Pre-proposals will undergo a screening/down selection process in which NCI staff, in collaboration with lead institutions, will determine which projects meet minimum criteria and best demonstrate strategic alignment with NCI’s regional economic development goals, geographical distribution, and available budget. The NCI team will perform a preliminary scoring of pre-proposals according to the review criteria (see the resources section). Teams whose pre-proposals are selected during this process will be invited to submit a full-proposal. If the proposal is not accepted during this cycle, applicants are encouraged to work with your Regional Director to strengthen it going forward. 

Full-proposals will be reviewed simultaneously by two different groups. The first is a set of external reviewers that will consist of four core reviewers that will score all the proposals received and two regional reviewers that will be specific to each NCI hub region. The second is a third-party review panel that will score the proposals according to market fit and the results of the statewide asset mapping exercise that NCI has been leading, in coordination with RTI. The NCI team will convene the reviewers at the end of these simultaneous scoring processes to come to consensus on a prioritization of proposals.   

The prioritized proposals will undergo an additional internal screening to balance NCI’s funding portfolio according to geographical location, amount of funding available, and other considerations. The NCI team will submit a prioritized set of funding recommendations to the NCI Board, which will have the opportunity to approve the funding recommendations. Once Board approval is complete, awardees will be notified.   

The evaluation criteria are all weighted equally and include the following:

1. Significance 
2. Research Team and University Infrastructure
3. Regional Alignment and Impact
4. Commercialization Potential 
5. Approach and Milestones
6. Industry Engagement

Reviewers are also asked to provide qualitative evaluation surrounding the use of funds and potential barriers.

To access the NCI eligibility request form, log onto: https://goapply2.akoyago.com/NCI/ 

If this is your first time accessing the NCI grant application portal, please click the link to create a new account and follow the prompts to register. Otherwise, log into the grant portal using your credentials.  

To view open grant applications, click the Opportunities link in the top navigation bar.  

A PDF version of the application can be found under the Resources section.

Resources

---

NCI Policies and Procedures 2025

Download

NCI Statewide RFP

Download

Program Contacts

NCInnovation operates four regional innovation networks – Charlotte, East, Piedmont, and West – to connect research universities, industry partners, and business leaders together to drive more effective commercialization strategies regionally and across North Carolina.  

Each regional network includes the research universities within that region and is anchored by a hub university and Regional Director, except for the Triangle Region, which is anchored at the NCI headquarters in Durham. Regional Directors are available to discuss your project plans with you and answer questions you may have as you prepare your application.  

• Charlotte (UNC Charlotte): Mary Lou Bourne, Senior Regional Innovation Network Director – Charlotte (mbourne@ncinnovation.org)   
• East (East Carolina University): Derrick Welch, Senior Regional Innovation Network Director – East (dwelch@ncinnovation.org)  
• East (Fayetteville State University): Alison Beatty, Innovation Hub Director – Fayetteville State (abeatty@ncinnovation.org)
• East (UNC Wilmington): Scott Davis, Innovation Hub Director – Wilmington (sdavis@ncinnovation.org) 
• Piedmont (N.C. A&T State University) and Triangle: Senior Louis Judge, Regional Innovation Network Director – Piedmont (ljudge@ncinnovation.org)  
• West (Western Carolina University): Meagan Coneybeer, Senior Regional Innovation Network Director – West (mconeybeer@ncinnovation.org)