Startup Opportunity Accelerator Act of 2021 or the SOAR Act
This bill requires the Small Business Administration to develop and implement a program to award cash grants of at least $1,000,000 to organizations that support new small businesses. These awards may be used for construction costs, space acquisition, and programmatic purposes, but they may not be used to provide capital or professional services to small businesses directly or through the subaward of funds.
The organization must have the support of new small businesses as a primary purpose and be often classified as an accelerator. The term accelerator means an organization that (1) supports new businesses with a focus on technology, research, and development; (2) frequently provides, but is not exclusively designed to provide, seed investment in exchange for a small amount of equity; (3) works with a startup for a predetermined amount of time; (4) provides mentorship and instruction to scale businesses; or (5) offers startup capital or the opportunity to raise capital from outside investors.