miller seed grants
Made possible by Gail and Larry Miller’s New Venture endowment
APPLY FOR MILLER GRANTS
STARTUP FUNDING AVAILABLE
Get funding for your business idea or growing startup. We don’t take equity!
YOUR STARTUP CAN GET UP TO
$27.5K
TWO TYPES OF GRANTS
validation
traction
VALIDATION GRANT
Validation Grants encourage lean entrepreneurship by reimbursing you up to $500 for customer pain discover or solution prototyping/validation. Available to all students on a rolling basis.
STEP 1
Take a class
To apply for a validation grant, you must be a Creators member AND take one of the following courses:

ENT 101 Introduction to Entrepreneurship
ENT 113 Entrepreneurship Bootcamp
ENT 301 Business Model Ideation & Validation
STEP 2
Pick a Grant
There are two validation grants available: Customer Pain Validation Grant, and Solution Prototype Validation Grant. You will be specifying which one you’re applying for in the application.
STEP 3
Get approved
The validation grant is a reimbursement grant. If your grant application is approved, you will be contacted by the finance manager to discuss how reimbursement works.
STEP 4
Submit receipts
Seed will reimburse you for validation expenses as they are incurred. Timely receipt submissions are required.
APPLY FOR MILLER GRANTS
TRACTION GRANT
Get up to $27K awarded over time to launch a validated idea or grow your existing company. Requires submitting a self-explanatory slide deck, and if you've received a Traction Grant before, a pitch to the investment committee. Available to Creators members only.

APPLICATION DEADLINES - Winter 2024
January 17
February 14
March 13
April 3
(each semester new deadlines are announced)
STEP 1
Prep
Make sure you’re ready to apply:
 1. Have a strong team (or for solo founders, a strong set of advisors
 2. Have strong validation/traction for your idea or business
 3. Have a well-defined initial solution, including high-fidelity prototpes or minimum viable product (MVP)
STEP 2
Apply
Applications are ongoing and deadlines are monthly.

Download "Detailed Checklist" below before applying.
STEP 3
Screening
If we think your business is ready and this is your first time getting a Traction Grant, we’ll give you an initial grant up to $2K. If your business is ready and you’ve received a Traction Grant before, you’ll be invited to pitch to our Investment Committee for up to $27K.
If not, you'll get specific feedback to improve and apply again.
STEP 4
Pitch
If you're invited to pitch to the Investment Committee of real investors, we strongly recommend pitching for 6-8 minutes and leaving the rest of the time for questions.

If the Committee doesn’t think you’re ready for a grant, they'll provide feedback so you can improve and apply again.
STEP 5
Align on Goals
Align with the investment committee on growth goals and specific milestones; your achievement will determine future eligibility for grants.

See “Detailed Checklist” for general guidance on milestones you should be thinking about.
STEP 6
Get funded
Grant money is most commonly awarded first in a $2K sum, then a $5K sum, with the remaining $20K given at varying amounts. All grant recipients are required to provide regular progress updates to the investment committee.



See “Detailed Checklist” for more information on grant amounts & updates.
STEP 7
Repeat
Once you’ve accomplished the goals and milestones of your grant, apply again (Step 2) for more funds-- as long as you’ve received less than $27K in Traction Grants.

Future pitches will look different-- see “Detailed Checklist” for what your future pitches should cover.
JOIN CREATORS TO APPLY
DOWNLOAD DETAILED CHECKLIST
FAQS
Email byuseedgrants@gmail.com with additional questions
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is determined by the following criteria (see * below if you do not meet one of the criteria):

OWNERSHIP: If equity has been assigned, a minimum of 20% of the company must be owned by current BYU students (see definition below).

MANAGEMENT: Seed Grants are for student-created and student-managed ventures, as such student participants should fill key management roles (Presidency or C-Suite) in the venture.

REVENUE: Ventures with cumulative revenues of more than $100,000 are NOT eligible to apply. This includes proceeds from crowdfunding (Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, etc.).

INVESTMENT: Companies who have received more than $250,000 of investment are NOT eligible to apply.

NATURE OF VENTURE: Ventures cannot be a buyout, an expansion of an existing company, a real estate syndication, a tax shelter, a franchise, a licensing agreement for distribution in a different geographical area, or a spin-out from an existing corporation. Licensing technologies (eg. tech transfer) from universities or research labs is encouraged, assuming they have not been commercialized previously, but must clearly indicate what was provided by the licensing agreement (patents, partnerships, etc.) before student involvement.

STUDENT STATUS: Qualifying BYU-Provo students must be current degree-seeking students enrolled in at least 6 credit hours for undergrads or 3 credit hours for grads in the semester when applying for the grant. Online courses will only count toward the minimum credit requirement if they fulfill graduation and degree-specific requirements.

* - If you do not meet one or more of these criteria, please talk to a Rollins Center director about your situation to see if you still might be eligible for a Seed Grant or other Rollins Center financial assistance.
MEMBERSHIP
What types of businesses are a good fit for Seed Grants?
Seed Grants are for businesses that are innovative and scalable. Here are some examples of businesses that are a good fit:

- tech companies (software or hardware) with big markets and ambition to scale
- product/service companies with big markets and ambition to scale

Companies that are NOT a good fit include:

- consulting, freelance work, and agencies
- proven business models with no new innovation
- basic online sales or drop-shipping businesses (reselling standard products)
- non-scalable craft or hobby businesses (e.g., Etsy store)
- real-estate ventures
- door-to-door sales businesses
MEMBERSHIP
Are you still doing Business Model Competition & New Venture Challenge?
No. Over the past couple of years we have explored expanding grant offerings to help fund student startup efforts. Beginning in 2022 we will be using this approach to replace the Business Model Competition and New Venture Challenge.

Student entrepreneurs who would have entered the BMC or NVC competitions can now submit a similar pitch to present at any of our Investment Committee meetings. The monthly meeting schedule provides greater flexibility and more options for funding throughout the year.

Teams will still have the opportunity to apply to participate in the summer Seed Launchpad program (providing space and more structured mentorship and training programs).
MEMBERSHIP
What other resources do you offer startups?
Our other offerings can be found here, at creators.byu.edu, including:

CREATORS: A valuable community of creative and clever people like you. Become a member and get exclusive access to our mentor network, The Slab co-working space & soda bar, our tight-knit community events, and the Creators Slack community.

SANDBOX: Sandbox students spend two semesters working in a small team to build and launch a tech product from scratch-- the best experience those interested in entrepreneurship or tech can get in school.

SEED: A startup accelerator and community for student founders, Seed supports the brightest entrepreneurs, and aspiring entrepreneurs, at BYU

ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLASSES: If you’re looking for a place to get started, we recommend ENT 113 and ENT 101.
MEMBERSHIP
How do you have all this money to give away to students?
Our generous donors fund all of our student programs. Seed Grants is especially made possible by Gail and Larry Miller, whose New Venture endowment is the core funding source for these grants.
MEMBERSHIP
How can I use my validation grant?
We encourage you to use validation grant funds for data gathering, validation experiments and low fidelity prototypes (after the customer and pain have been validated).

Validation Grant funds CANNOT be used for the following:
- inventory
- salaries or contractors
- operations
- legal or entity formation
- anything that is not directly related to validation experiments and data gathering
MEMBERSHIP
Can I apply for multiple validation grants?
Yes, but the total amount awarded for a single idea is capped at $1,000. You can apply for validation grants for multiple ideas but not simultaneously.
MEMBERSHIP
What resources do you recommend to learn good validation?
We recommend checking out resources found at www.businessmodelcompetition.com/testvalidate.html

Also come by The Slab and grab a book from our Creators Library! Our recommendations include The Mom Test and Nail It Then Scale It.
MEMBERSHIP
Am I ready to apply for a traction grant?
Attributes of those who ready to apply include:

- a strong team (or for solo founders, a strong set of advisors)
- strong validation of your idea and the opportunity (e.g., conversations and interactions with potential customers, competitive analysis, market research, etc.)
- a well-defined initial solution, including high-fidelity prototypes or an MVP (minimum viable product)
MEMBERSHIP
How can I use my traction grant?
You can use the money for anything *with the exception of paying founders* that you feel will help your startup gain traction.

Your proposed use of funds is one of the things we’ll be evaluating in your pitch. We recommend using the money to do things such as hire interns/pay employees, prototype, validate, advertise, etc.
MEMBERSHIP
When are the traction grant application deadlines?
FALL 2023
September 27
October 25
November 27
(each semester new deadlines are announced)
MEMBERSHIP
What should my traction grant pitch deck include (i.e., what criteria is being considered)?
- Team info (including co-founders, advisors, mentors, investors)
- Validation and evidence justifying pursuit of this idea (e.g., market segments and needs, jobs-to-be done, customer pains, unmet market demand)
- Traction (e.g., pre-sales, partnerships, social media stats, product dev, revenue)
- Demo of your MVP/prototype (if applicable)
- Intended use of grant and what goals/milestones you will achieve with it
- Explanation of how the grant money will make a significant difference in the growth of your company*
- Must be self-explanatory (i.e., deck should make sense without anyone there to present it)

* Your application must include how our grants will help your startup become venture-backed or bootstrapped. You might have a great startup, but if we don’t believe our grants will make a significant difference in your growth, you’re unlikely to receive a grant.

EXAMPLE PITCH DECKS

https://www.canva.com/design/DAE19I8x9Wc/JslJMbtsFiVklhAIcwB1QA/view?utm_content=DAE19I8x9Wc&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1mskIYN2XEmH76NVlEB7dVrVHVmBTh2XEvlgjlh_xM5I/edit?usp=sharing
MEMBERSHIP
APPLY TO SEED
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