National Science Foundation

In addition to receiving a Phase I seed fund grant from the NSF's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / "America's Seed Fund" program in June of 2019, Socialroots was awarded our Phase II funding in April of 2021.  We are the first cooperative to be funded through this NSF program.

We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to take a research-based approach to the problems of group-to-group collaboration. We would not be able to pursue our work with the diligence and depth we aim for without this award. The ongoing support and encouragement of our program advisor, as well as the networks and resources we are discovering through this program continue to shape our work.

We encourage anyone - especially other cooperatives and social enterprises - with  innovative ideas around a long, slow, and challenging research question that matters to today's world to apply.

About America’s Seed Fund

America’s Seed Fund powered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $2 million in non-dilutive  funds to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is  congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research  (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget  of about $8.5 billion that supports fundamental research and education  across all fields of science and engineering. For more information,  visit seedfund.nsf.gov.