2018 RAILS Grant is Open!

City to award up to $1M in grants through RAILS Grant Program

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Chief Innovation Officer Louis Stewart and members of the Sacramento City Council convened a press conference this morning to kick off the 2018 City of Sacramento RAILS Grants.

Now in its second iteration, the RAILS program offers up to $1 million in grants to support the development of Sacramento’s entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem through “startup enablers” — community-based initiatives and programs that help entrepreneurs take their startup from initial idea to viable company.

Also in attendance were several grantees from the 2016 RAILS grants including StartupSac. The Mayor’s Office for Innovation and Entrepreneurship live-streamed the event on Twitter.

Watch the live-stream of the press conference on Twitter.

Notable differences in this year’s RAILS grants from 2016 are that in addition to supporting the development of Sacramento’s entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem through “startup enablers”, in the 2018 application cycle, startups focused on advancing key industry verticals through the Sacramento Urban Technology Lab (SUTL) framework will be eligible for funding through the Program.

In addition to focusing on SUTL-related projects, applicants are being encouraged to develop projects around workforce development of youth and serving low-income, underserved communities.