Sandhills startup awarded NC IDEA Foundation grant

By Staff Report, posted Oct 29, 2025 on BizFayetteville.com

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NC IDEA, a private foundation committed to supporting entrepreneurial ambition and economic empowerment in North Carolina, has announced that the organization has awarded $160,000 to sixteen North Carolina startups in its fifteenth NC IDEA MICRO grant cycle.

Through small, project-based grants, NC IDEA MICRO awards $10,000 in funding to young companies looking to validate and advance their idea. In addition to the funding, grant recipients participate in an eight-week customer discovery and product launch program.

Sixteen NC IDEA MICRO grant recipients were chosen after a three-month competitive application and selection process that drew one of the largest application pools to date, with 285 applications from across the state. Among the selected recipients was The Horse Concierge based out of Raeford, N.C.  

According to their Facebook page, “The Horse Concierge is your all-in-one equine lifestyle companion — built by a horse owner, for horse owners.” 

The newest MICRO grant recipients will be publicly recognized at NC IDEA’s 2025 Ecosystem Summit, taking place on Nov.17-18, 2025, at the Sheraton Imperial in RTP, N.C. Grant recipients from NC IDEA’s $50K SEED grant program will also be announced live at the event.

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