The Arizona Advanced Manufacturing Facilities (AMF) Grant is a highly competitive program aiming to bridge the facility, expertise, and capabilities gap typically found among startups in the semiconductor and hard materials space. The relevant capabilities (such as clean rooms, high-purity gases and liquids, hazardous material management, and equipment and process capabilities) are traditionally unavailable to lease and require tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars of capital to build.
The Arizona Commerce Authority and Arizona State University have partnered to provide access to discounted shared semiconductor fabrication and characterization equipment with pilot-scale capabilities for those companies that are not presently users or are small users of the facilities. Participants in the program will be provided with a 1:1 funding match for ASU’s Core Facility usage (up to $75,000 per company), effectively lowering the financial entry barrier by half.
Applicants should be aligned with the semiconductor and hard materials space to participate. The program is designed to help companies with innovations with an MRL (Manufacturing Readiness Level) of 3-8 progress to the next level using these funds. Applicants will be reviewed by non-partisan judges and awarded based on the AMF Rubric.
Industry Focus
Companies must articulate how they fit within the semiconductor and hard materials space.
- Semiconductor
- Advanced Materials/Advanced Manufacturing
- Aerospace / Defense
- MedTech
- Cleantech / Renewable Energy
- Information Technology – Hardware
Innovative Ideas and Solutions
All applicants must be moving towards the commercialization of unique, innovative technology or a scientific solution to a marketplace issue(s) in an industry. Companies may not simply be involved in re-selling or expanding an existing technology. The standard typically used to help make this determination is if the company could or should pursue or have a patent on the technology and whether or not it chose to do so (for eligibility purposes, pursuing or having a patent is not required).
Equipment Alignment and Budget
All companies must reach out to Katie Smith at [email protected], Technical Sales Engineer from ASU’s Core Research Facilities, to determine the facilities and toolsets that align with your company's needs and develop a budget that will be submitted with the company’s AMF application.
Application Submission/Review
Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis through the ACA website and reviewed quarterly. Submission deadlines for the quarterly reviews are the last day of the month before the review date.
2022 Review Dates:
- Quarterly Review #1: March 1- March 15 (Deadline: February 28)
- Quarterly Review #2: June 1- June 15 (Deadline: May 31)
- Quarterly Review #3: September 1- September 15 (Deadline: August 31)
- Quarterly Review #4: December 1- December 15 (Deadline: November 30)
Applicants will be notified of their status within 60 days of their submission.
Corporate Status/Structure
All companies must be existing, for-profit corporate entities such as corporations, limited liability companies, or partnerships. Sole proprietorships are not eligible. Companies selected to participate in the Arizona Advanced Manufacturing Facilities Grant must be in good standing with the Arizona Corporation Commission and other regulatory bodies.
Number of Employees
Applicants must have at least two but no more than 29 full-time employees. The points below further refine the definition of an “employee” for the AMF Grant in that the minimum equivalent of two full-time employees must meet the following criteria:
- Must be non-administrative (person’s sole responsibility is not administrative in nature);
- A full-time employee would be considered an individual working at least 35 hours/week for this company, paid or unpaid;
- The two-employee minimum may include founders or active investors who otherwise meet these criteria;
- Having more than one part-time employee adds up to one or more full-time equivalent employee(s) to meet the minimum two-employee rule.
- In general, members of a board of directors or advisory boards, who are otherwise full-time employees of another company, may not be included as part of the two-employee minimum requirement;
- It is up to ACA discretion to determine the final qualifications of any applicant company.
Assets
Companies may not have more than $10,000,000 in net assets, which does not include capital from investors.
Location
An applying company can be located outside of Arizona, but that company must plan to relocate or create a portion of its operations in Arizona.
ACA Discretion
It is up to ACA discretion to determine the final qualifications of any applicant company relative to its eligibility to participate in this grant program. It is also the ACA's discretion to maintain an applicant company within any phase of the selection process and during the life of the grant program, including but not limited to the discovery of new information within the selection process and the company’s involvement throughout the life of the grant, which might be deemed to affect its eligibility to continue receiving the discounted rates provided through this grant.