Batten Institute - Ventures - Batten Innovation Grant

2025 Applications

Spring 2025 applications are now closed. Please check back soon for fall 2025 application details.

SPRING APPLICATION DEADLINE // Sunday, 30 March (11:59PM ET)
SPRING GRANT NOTIFICATION DATE // Friday, 4 April
Spring grants are available at two funding levels: Explore ($500) and Innovate ($1500).

The larger Innovate Grants are designed to support continued venture development. Applicants for the Innovate Grant must have previously been awarded a Batten Innovation Grant or participated in the University of Virginia Entrepreneurship Cup competition as a precursor to their application. There is no prerequisite to apply for the Explore Grant.

Applicants should choose to apply for either of the grant options during the spring cycle (choose one), rather than applying for both grants separately.

EXPLORE ($500 GRANT, ONE PER STUDENT/VENTURE PER APPLICATION CYCLE, UP TO 2 PER YEAR)

The Explore Grant is designed for entrepreneurial students with an innovative idea in the early stages of customer discovery – hypothesis development, customer interviews, evaluation, and refinement. Applicants are encouraged to read the introduction of The Experimentation Fieldbook by Jeanne Liedtka, Elizabeth Chen, Natalie Foley, and David Kestner as background on identifying a specific idea to test and how to go about testing the idea (accessible via this link).

Strong applications will demonstrate they have considered the specific idea they would like to test and how they will go about testing that idea. Typically, this involves gathering direct customer insights rather than collecting survey responses alone (e.g. holding a ‘lemonade stand’ or basic pop-up booth to gather insights from a potential target market).

ONLINE APPLICATION QUESTIONS

· Provide a short bio for each member of your team, including specific roles/responsibilities on the team.

· Describe the problem you seek to address. Who experiences the problem? How many people experience it (e.g., how large is the market)?

· Describe your concept / product or service.

· How does your product compare to the current available solutions for your target customers?

· Describe a specific idea (or ideas) you would like to test with this innovation grant. How will you go about testing that idea, and what do you hope to learn?

· Describe how grant funds would directly support your entrepreneurial project.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

No more than one page per document, submitted as attachments via the Qualtrics application form.

· Project Timeline
Please use the following file name format: Last Name_Venture Name_Timeline

· Spending Plan
Describe how grant funds would directly support your entrepreneurial project. Please use the following file name format: Last Name_Venture Name_Spending Plan
 

INNOVATE ($1500 GRANT, ONE PER STUDENT/VENTURE PER ANNUAL CYCLE)

The Innovate Grant is intended for entrepreneurial students who are continuing venture development after validating key assumptions and iterating on their concept. Strong applications will demonstrate evidence of seeking and incorporating feedback from potential or actual customers, an understanding of the potential market, and focused goals and milestones, and will include proposed uses for funding that advance the venture’s progress.

Eligibility: Applicants for the Innovate Grant must have previously been awarded a Batten Innovation Grant or participated in the University of Virginia Entrepreneurship Cup competition prior to their application for the grant as a precursor to their application (either in the ‘23-24 or ‘24-25 academic year). Applicants must choose to apply for either the Explore or Innovate grant during the spring cycle – please choose one, rather than applying for both grant opportunities separately.

ONLINE APPLICATION QUESTIONS

· Confirm that you have either previously received a Batten Innovation Grant or participated in the ECup Competition [include which ECup or Innovation Grant cycle you participated in].

· Describe your concept / venture.

· Tell us about recent progress you have made on your concept/venture, including how you define progress (e.g., your goals/milestones) and an example(s) of how you have responded to customer feedback and insights. For applicants who have previously received a Batten Innovation Grant, highlight your concept/venture’s progress since your last application.

· Describe how grant funds would directly support progress on your concept/venture and enable progress toward specific future goals and milestones.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

Pitch Deck

· The pitch deck should function as a standalone document and address the following: (1) the problem you seek to address, (2) the potential market, (3) your intervention (or ‘solution’), (4) why you are well-positioned to address this problem, and (5) what you need to succeed.

· The pitch deck must have ten slides or fewer. PDF preferred, submitted via the Qualtrics survey.

· Please use the following file name format: Last Name_Venture Name_Pitch Deck

 

POST-GRANT REQUIREMENT FOR EXPLORE & INNOVATE GRANTS

Recipients of both the spring Explore and Innovate grants must submit a one-page final report to the Batten Institute by 29 August 2025. The report should detail the results of the project, including a final budget that identifies all spent funds and any unspent funds. Recipients should be prepared to answer any follow-up questions regarding their progress and use of funds. For impact evaluation purposes, applicants will also be asked to provide basic details on the stage of their venture and engagement in other entrepreneurship opportunities.