EDA is committed to fostering connected, innovation-centric economic sectors which support the conversion of research into products and services, businesses, and ultimately jobs through entrepreneurship. See Section 27. Funding is available for capacity-building programs that provide proof-of-concept and commercialization assistance to innovators and entrepreneurs and for operational support for organizations that provide essential early-stage funding to startups. Under the RIS Program, EDA is soliciting applications for two separate competitions: the 2017 i6 Challenge; and the 2017 Seed Fund Support (SFS) Grant competition. Applicants may, but are not required to, submit proposals for more than one competition under the RIS Program. Applicants must provide a matching share from non-Federal sources of at least 50 percent of the total project cost. See Section C.2 (p. 7) of this NOFA.