Applications Now Open: Due March 31, 2021

1) Application- Proposal Submission
               -Prerequisites

2) Two-page Letter-of-Intent

The initial proposal Letter-of-Intent only includes Sections A through D. If it is approved by the board and funding granted, the student is required to update the Letter-of-Intent to include Section E which covers specific aims and milestones associated with funding amount that has been awarded. Full proposals including Section E will only be accepted from student entrepreneurs (SE) who have submitted the Initial Proposal and were officially granted funding.

3) Signed Acknowledgement

Submission of an Initial Proposal is required in order to be considered for a Third Bridge Grant. The due date for the next round of submissions is yet to be determined. Please check the website regularly for updates or contact Katarzyna Terlikowski at katarzyna.terlikowski@uconn.edu . 

After the due date, each student team who submitted an application will present their proposal to the TBG Board during a timeslot to-be-scheduled. Teams will be notified if they have been selected to receive a grant within two weeks after their presentation to the board.

Students who receive grants are required to submit an updated Proposal including milestones, expenses to be covered by grant funding, and timeline (Section E of the Letter of Intent). The updated proposal will be reviewed by the board for their approval including changes, if any, that they request. In addition to funding, teams whose proposals are selected will receive mentoring and networking support during the length of the proposed program.

Please submit your proposals here.

The proposals will be judged by a Third Bridge BOARD which is comprised of seven members including current and former industry executive and CT Innovation and UConn representatives. Applications will be judged using (but not limited to) the following criteria:

• Overall quality of the proposed development plan;
• The potential commercial importance of the proposed project;
• Competence, balance, and completeness of entrepreneurial team;
• The possibility of attracting future development funding to advance the proposed project;
• The degree of innovation and novelty in the proposed project;
• Potential for commercially significant inventions, copyrights, and patents;
• The probability of achieving the proposed goal with the Grant resources and in the time proposed

Initial proposals should request an amount from $5K to $50K and may cover any or all of the following deliverables:

Grant topic I: Proof-of-Concept – not to exceed $25K/project

        Proof-of-principle and other studies on intellectual property that demonstrate the
        utility of technology for a specific commercial application.

Grant topic II: Marketing and Commercialization Assessment – not to exceed
        $15K/project

        A commercial and market opportunity assessment for technology and development
        of preliminary commercialization or tested business plan.

Grant topic III:  Early-Stage Development – not to exceed $50K/project

        Product development in preparation for a product launch or the advancement of a
        product technology to achieve a commercial milestone that significantly increases the
        company’s value and better position the company for follow-on investment from
        angels or venture capitalists.