Community Try It Fund
This special funding opportunity is designed to help individuals who have completed the Hurt Hub’s Fall 2026 Building a Lean Startup course or LaunchCLT’s Fall 2026 CO.STARTERS course take those crucial first steps in launching their business.
About the fund
The Community Try It Fund provides up to $1,000 of financial support to help cover initial business expenses such as registration fees, licenses, permits, and other startup essentials.
For graduates of the Hurt Hub’s entrepreneurship programs, you’ve developed the foundation, now let us help you build upon it.
This award rewards evidence of customer discovery – talking to real people, testing assumptions, and letting what you learn shape your next step. We’re less interested in a polished plan than in proof you’ve gotten out and listened. We expect that you have had at least 10 customer discovery interviews by the time you apply for this grant. The most important question on the application is: “What did you learn from the customer discovery conversations that changed something about your concept?
Community Try It Fund details
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This opportunity is open to entrepreneurs who:
- Have completed the Fall 2026 Building a Lean Startup course or CO.STARTERS course at the Hurt Hub
- Are launching a new for-profit business or have established one in 2026
- Will register (or have registered) their business in North Carolina
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- The fund is exclusively for community members
- Davidson College current students are not eligible for this opportunity
- Businesses must be for-profit entities
- Upon accepting the award, you must consent to make substantial progress towards your goal within 8 weeks and provide a reflection on the process
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Applications close Dec 4th, 2026. All applications are reviewed by a small panel the week of December 7th. Winners are notified mid-December, with funds distributed in January 2027.
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