The Mississippi Development Authority currently is accepting applications for Mississippi Energy Program for Innovation Cluster: Virtual Quad from qualified teams developing new products or services in the energy and agriculture technologies until June 30, 2022.
Teams are eligible for a maximum award of $25,000 each in the form of a voucher that may be used to receive technical assistance from a research university in Mississippi. MDA will award a total of $100,000 in the ETAP, which is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy – State Energy Program. Teams receiving an ETAP grant will be paired with a relevant research university to solve specific technical challenges posed by the applicants.
V-Quad’s goal is to build an innovative, virtual incubator network to support Mississippi entrepreneurs launching businesses focused on energy- and agriculture-related technologies. This will be a public-private partnership that connects Mississippi’s research universities, industry, government and non-profits into a cohesive, tech-based entrepreneurial network.
The project also includes a consortium with MDA, Innovate Mississippi, the Institutions of Higher Learning and the four research universities: Mississippi State, University of Mississippi, Southern Miss and Jackson State.
The competition is open to teams of high school and college students, university or community college faculty, for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, public-sector employees or any combination of individuals from these entities.
Examples of eligible projects include the use of information and communication technology, robotics, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, unmanned aerial and terrestrial vehicles and genomics within the energy and agriculture technologies.
The deadline to apply for a grant is June 30, 2022. For more information and an application, go to V-Quad Incubator Network | Mighty Mississippi.
