Scaling Pandemic Resilience Through Innovation and Technology (SPRINT) Challenge

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SPRINT is a U.S. federal competitive grant program designed to accelerate innovation ecosystems and technology-based solutions addressing economic, health, and safety challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic.
What are the main aims and objectives?

SPRINT aims to rapidly develop and scale technologies and entrepreneurial ecosystems that mitigate the economic, health, and safety impacts of the pandemic, facilitate safe business reopening, support workforce upskilling, and build resilient regional economies. Integral objectives include accelerating bioscience innovations, fostering regional and government partnerships, improving access to investment capital, and expanding remote entrepreneurship support networks.

How does the program work?

The SPRINT Challenge operates as a competitive grant mechanism coordinated by the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) under the Department of Commerce. Eligible applicants—primarily nonprofits, higher education institutions, innovation accelerators, regional economic development bodies, and public or private nonprofits—apply for grants ranging from $200,000 to $750,000 depending on project scopes. The program emphasizes projects that develop pandemic-related technologies, enhance regional innovation capacity, connect ecosystems across government and private sectors, and provide novel investment capital models and entrepreneurship support adapted for remote or hybrid work environments. Applications undergo rigorous evaluation based on their ability to address pandemic risks, facilitate inclusive regional collaborations, leverage existing assets, and demonstrate potential economic impact. Grantees implement projects that blend technical assistance, executive advisories, angel investment education, and workforce credentialing to generate systemic resilience and startup success. The challenge leverages diverse regional strengths, focusing on biotechnology, digital health innovation, smart manufacturing, and community economic development to create scalable, pandemic-resilient ecosystems.

What is the overall cost?

The initial funding allocation for the SPRINT Challenge was $25 million, distributed through the CARES Act, although $29 million was awarded in the first round to 44 grantees across 25 U.S. states and territories.

How was it implemented?

The SPRINT Challenge was launched in October 2020 through the U.S. Department of Commerce, with Secretary Wilbur Ross announcing the program’s creation as part of the national pandemic economic response. Funded by the CARES Act and authorized under the Economic Development Administration’s Economic Adjustment Assistance program, implementation commenced with a nationwide call for applications. The program solicited proposals that could pivot existing regional innovation assets to produce pandemic-relevant solutions rapidly. Following a competitive evaluation of 238 applicants, 44 grantees were selected and awarded funds in April 2021 under Secretary Gina Raimondo’s leadership. Grantees included universities, nonprofits, economic development agencies, and incubators tasked with creating or scaling regional entrepreneurship programs geared toward pandemic resilience. Projects ranged from bioscience accelerators and digital health initiatives to workforce credentialing and angel investor education, and integrated a multi-tier coaching model to maximize startup success. Coordination among federal, state, and regional actors was critical, with an emphasis on cross-sector collaboration, resource leveraging, and long-term ecosystem building.

What impact has been measured?

Evidence from one major grantee, Washington State University’s SP3NW business incubator, shows that through SPRINT support several startups raised $2.8 million, created 37 jobs, and achieved a startup survival rate of approximately 77%, remarkably exceeding typical sector averages. The program facilitated 13 executive advisor matches, multiple networking events with nearly 440 attendees, and developed angel investing education for 70 investors, of whom 25 completed the Angel University certification. Workforce initiatives led to meaningful adoption of credentialing exams and the creation of internships. Collectively, the 44 SPRINT Challenge grantees leveraged nearly $9 million additional funds and improved regional resilience via public-private partnerships and support infrastructure.

What lessons can be learned?
  • The program lacked a centralized, comprehensive evaluation covering all 44 grantees, limiting wide-scale impact assessment and comparison of best practices.
  • SPRINT operated under compressed timelines due to its crisis-response nature, potentially affecting the extent of pre-planning and standardized data collection.
  • Geographic distribution of grants favored states with established bioscience and technology infrastructures, potentially under-serving other industries and rural regions.
  • For-profit startups were ineligible to apply directly, possibly restricting the range of innovative entrepreneurial ventures supported.
  • Despite outreach efforts, engagement with underrepresented groups in angel investing remained limited, reflecting persistent challenges in broadening equity in startup finance.
  • Sustainability of ecosystem support requires ongoing funding beyond initial grants, as succeeded grantees often needed significant follow-on resources to maintain operations.
  • Data on pandemic-specific outcomes versus broader entrepreneurship support remains limited, complicating attribution of resilience improvements directly to the program.
  • Future programs could benefit from integrating robust, standardized impact data collection and ensuring equitable geographic and sectoral inclusivity.

CURATED BY

Cristina Fernandez

Director for Knowledge + Programming
Global Entrepreneurship Network
United States