Event Details: Get Started

Please mark your calendars for every third Wednesday and join us for an inspiring and interactive evening where Utah’s brightest innovators pitch their ideas for Get Started funding.

Get Started is your chance to witness creativity and determination in action as local entrepreneurs showcase their business concepts and compete for the funding they need to turn their dreams into reality.

But that’s not all—you play a vital role in the process. Be part of the excitement by helping to decide which visionary will go home with the funding to take a big step toward success. This event is open to everyone, so bring a friend, family member, or colleague and share in the energy of supporting Utah’s entrepreneurial community.

Funding

The Get Started: Business Idea Challenge awards up to $500 in funding to help founders to start or advance their business. This exciting program is in partnership with the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute at the University of Utah.

If you are a University of Utah student interested in milestone funding? Click here

Otherwise this program is open to all Utah residents, 18 and older, check the participation guide for more details.

Get Started Milestone-based Microgrant Application Stages

Stage 1: Complete the online microgrant application

• All Utah residents with a business idea are encouraged to apply. Applications are due by the first Wednesday of the month. Only one application will be accepted per email address in the current month. A participant can apply multiple times throughout the year. Previous winners must complete their earlier milestones before applying.

Stage 2: Application review

• We review applications for completeness, and the program managers identify the top 15 applications based on the reward criteria and notify those selected by the second Wednesday of the month.

Stage 3: Top 15 participants

• The top 15 participants will receive a formal pitch deck template we’ll require them to use in their final pitch presentation. The program managers will conduct a confirmation of the participants’ W9 submissions. Participants will have one week before the live pitch event to complete all required documentation.

Stage 4: Live pitch event

• Live pitches will occur virtually on the third Wednesday of every month. The live pitch event includes a three-minute presentation and an optional one-minute question-and-answer period with the program managers.

Stage 5: Voting

• Voting occurs simultaneously and immediately after the pitches. Participants who join the virtual event, including the presenters, can vote for and rank the presenters based on the rubric. While the rubric is the primary means to access the winners, it is ultimately up to the program managers to decide who the winners are.

Stage 6: Award

• After the live pitch voting, we announce the winners. Each winner must coordinate with the program managers to complete all required paperwork and follow award payment procedures. The award winners have up to 30 days to complete all the necessary documentation and schedule their award payment.

Stage 7: Marketing and follow-up

• Get Started winners must schedule an appointment with GOEO’s Startup State Initiative team (startup@utah.gov) and their partners for an official write-up, which we’ll publish on the startup.utah.gov website. The publicity team and winners will also discuss and coordinate appropriate photos and graphics for marketing/PR materials. We may contact awardees up to 24 months after the award for follow-up stories, marketing collateral, and progress reports.