miller grants
Made possible by Gail and Larry Miller’s New Venture endowment

To apply for Miller Grants, create a personal and business profile on the byucet.org Portal and then apply for either type of grant on the Programs page.
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YOUR STARTUP CAN GET UP TO
$28K
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. Applicants must be a Creators member and submissions are evaluated on a rolling deadline.
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.
TRACTION GRANT
Get up to $27K to help your validated idea become a profitable or investor ready business. These grants are incremental ($2,000 - $5,000 - $10,000 - $10,000) and milestone-based. Interested students can apply each month during the school year, receive feedback, and reapply if they are denied.

APPLICATION DEADLINES - WINTER 2025
Fri, Jan 10
Wed, Feb 5
Wed, Mar 12
Thr, Mar 27
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.
DOWNLOAD DETAILED CHECKLIST
FAQS
Email byumillergrants@gmail.com with additional questions
Who is eligible to apply?
Applicants must be a Creators member and meet the following eligibility criteria:

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

MANAGEMENT: Miller Grants are for student-created and student-managed ventures, as such student participants should fill key management roles in the business and have primary decision-making authority.

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

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

NATURE OF VENTURE: Businesses 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.

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 academic year 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 Miller Grant or other Rollins Center financial assistance.
MEMBERSHIP
What types of businesses are a good fit?
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
What criteria will my submission be evaluated on (i.e., what information should my submission and deck include)?
- Team strength (experience of founders and other applicable team members)
- Validation and evidence justifying pursuit of this idea (e.g., market segments and needs, jobs-to-be done, customer pains, unmet market demand, etc.)
- Traction (e.g., LOIs, pre-sales, partnerships, social media stats, product dev, revenue, etc.)
- Demo of your prototype/MVP (minimum viable product) if applicable
- Intended use of grant money and how it will help you get closer to one of our two outcomes: become profitable or investor ready
- Explanation of how the grant money will de-risk, reduce uncertainty, in your business and accelerate traction

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
Are there prerequisites to apply for a validation grant?
Yes, to apply for a validation grant you must be a Creators member AND take one of the following courses:

ENT 101 - Intro to Entrepreneurship
ENT 113 - Startup Bootcamp
ENT 301 - Business Model Validation
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 how to validate a business idea?
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
When are the traction grant application deadlines?
APPLICATION DEADLINES - WINTER 2025
Fri, Jan 10**
Wed, Feb 5
Wed, Mar 12
Thr, Mar 27
** - Due to BYU changing over to a new ERP system, awarded grants for this deadline will not be paid until February 2025
MEMBERSHIP
Am I ready to apply for a traction grant?
Attributes of those who are 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 business gain traction and get you closer to becoming profitable or investor ready. We also don't love paying for equipment and inventory.

Your proposed use of funds is an important aspect that we’ll be evaluating in your application. We recommend using the money to do things such as pay for interns/employees/contractors, marketing/advertising (these requests must include a detailed spend plan, what you hope to learn, and goals for ROAS and CAC) , manufacturing or improving your product, attending a trade show, etc.
MEMBERSHIP
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