The Futureworks NYC Growth Initiative grants help startups like Sunhouse fund engineers, product development, strategic consultants and other advanced manufacturing essentials. Sunhouse’s Sensory Percussion drum kit is revolutionizing the instrument. Credit: Sunhouse

NYCEDC is proud to announce the second round of Futureworks NYC Growth Initiative grants for early-stage advanced manufacturing companies. If you are a manufacturing startup or developing advanced manufacturing technologies, apply! You could receive $30,000 in funding to support your growth here in New York City. No. Strings. Attached.

Well, a few strings, but they’re simple ones. You must have been incorporated at least one year, have fewer than 15 full-time employees, have generated revenue (revenue, not profit) or piloted products. To qualify for the Futureworks NYC Growth Initiative grants, you cannot have received institutional funding which is considered a Series A round or above. Angel investors or crowdfunding is totally fine! Applications are due by Monday, November 14. Apply Here.

Pensa: (noun) 21st-century inventors who created DIWire, a small machine with big build size and incredibly flexible applications in the engineering, robotics, design, lighting, medical and furniture industries. Funding helped Pensa travel to Dusseldorf for an international wire trade show. Credit: Pensa

The goal of the grants is to help accelerate startups by infusing them with a strategic growth investment. New York City advanced manufacturers who earned the first round of $30,000 funding included Adam Frank, Pensa, Poursteady, Sunhouse and BotFactory. These five companies represent the diverse ecosystem of a manufacturing industry that’s enjoying its most sustained growth in decades.

Poursteady’s smart coffee machines combine NASA-grade engineering with immediate NYC usefulness. No more long lines while witing for a pour-over coffee. Poursteady used Futureworks funding to pay founders, hire an engineer and get certifications. Credit: Poursteady

Pensa, the Dumbo-based product design and engineering firm, invested Futureworks funding to travel to Dusseldorf for the massive Wire.de trade show. Founders Marco Perry and Kathy Larchian said they were able to generate enterprise sales for their DIWire, gather market information and make valuable relationships. Poursteady, creator of the smart pour-over coffee machine, put Futureworks NYC Growth Initiative capital into their team. Founder Stephan von Muehlen says he hired a full-time software engineer, paid founders minimal salaries and obtained key product certifications. “These investments were necessary, but the Futureworks grant became critical in bridging the gap financially,” von Muehlen told us.

Adam Frank is an artist, designer and product developer who constantly investigates light and interactivity. He’s created installations for the city of Denver and Seattle and sells products through retail partnerships with the MOMA Store, ABC Home, Uncommon Goods and many more. Credit: Adam Frank Inc

At desktop PCB-printing startup Botfactory Founder Nico Vansnick and the team went a similar route as Poursteady. By purchasing inventory and paying technicians to build for four months, the grant “helped the company push the boundaries of electronics manufacturing,” Vansnick says. The Futureworks grant enabled Sunhouse to make the final surge in releasing their first product, the smart drum kit Sensory Percussion. Founder Tenoch Esparza finished design for manufacturing and electrical engineering work, hire a software engineer consultant and order samples from partners.

The BotFactory team builds desktop PCB printers at a fraction of the traditional time and cost. Futureworks Growth Initiative funding enabled BotFactory to buy inventory, hire technicians and build, build, build. Credit: BotFactory

Whether you are about to invest in your team, product development, engineering or anywhere else up and down the startup supply chain, apply for a Futureworks NYC Growth Initiative grant. Your future self will thank you.