Fealy Bearcat Bridge Fund

The Fealy Bearcat Bridge Fund (FBBF) was established in 2001, through a grant from the Coleman Foundation, the support of Mr. Robert Fealy, and other generous donors.

The objective of the FBBF is to foster entrepreneurship among students from all UC colleges and campuses. It supports student inventors and entrepreneurs with innovative ideas and the drive to turn those ideas into reality. The FBBF is here to support the development of promising technologies and the launch of new ventures.

Students may submit proposals at any time during the academic year. Proposals will be reviewed annually in May with winners announced in June or July.

Each application will be given a preliminary review by members of the Center for Entrepreneurship Faculty, and/or members of the FBBF advisory board. When center faculty and/or the advisory board decide that a particular proposal is complete, it will be formally reviewed by a committee composed of members of the faculty and the FBBF advisory board for final review and grant funding decisions. In deciding which plans merit funding, the FBBF advisory board may request additional information or personal interviews with a plan’s authors.

Typical funding levels range from $1,000 to $5,000, though higher levels of funding can be awarded at the discretion of the FBBF advisory board. In addition to cash grants, FBBF winners also receive goods and services to support the launch of their new ventures.

All UC students are eligible to submit applications for funding. Students may work individually or with a team of other UC students. Interdisciplinary collaboration among students from various UC colleges is encouraged. Recent UC alums (who have graduated in the past six months) are also eligible. Teams must include at least one UC student or recent UC alumnus. Teams should be composed primarily of UC students or alumni, but may include others.

Proposals for all types of enterprises, including small or large-scale, high or low-tech, e-commerce or brick and mortar, profit and non-profit, will be accepted.  Preliminary review will look for evidence of the following criteria:

• Feasibility of the proposed venture and its prospects for success
• Strength of the management team's commitment to the venture and their qualifications to make it succeed
• Prospects for raising additional funding as required
• Conceptual and/or technical originality and/or social value