Main Street Ventures’ Funding Programs to support Entrepreneurs

The Main Street Ventures’ funding programs support local entrepreneurs in the idea/prototype and revenue stages with equity-free business start-up funding, rather than traditional investments.

Donor Name: Main Street Ventures

State: Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana

County: Selected Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 10/30/2023

Size of the Grant:

Launch Funding: $5,000 – $10,000
Leap Funding: $10,000 – $30,000

Details:

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 Criteria

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