Kickstart Venture Services

KickStart Venture Services, a department in Innovate Carolina’s Office of Technology Commercialization at UNC-Chapel Hill, supports research-based startup formation and growth by providing education, early-stage funding, and on-campus accelerator space. KickStart also connects founders to key service providers, management, and investors in the local innovation ecosystem. Founded in 2008, KickStart has had an incredible impact on startups, particularly through our KickStart Commercialization Grant Awards. The grant award program alone has given more than $2 million in awards to over 60 companies, and that only scratches the surface of the value our resource-rich program adds to the ventures we support.