DURHAM — Home for Life Design of Salisbury was awarded a grant from NC IDEA, a private foundation committed to supporting entrepreneurial ambition and economic empowerment in North Carolina.

The organization awarded a total of $300,000 in grants to six North Carolina startups. Since its inception in 2006, the NC IDEA SEED grant program has awarded over $9 million in grants to 200  companies.

“This cycle marks a big milestone with 200 SEED grants now awarded to innovative companies across the state,” said Thom Ruhe, CEO and president of NC IDEA, in a news release. “The representation of under-served communities reflected in such a competitive cycle demonstrates the vibrancy and resiliency of entrepreneurship across North Carolina. Our efforts to level the playing field are paying off.”

The following six spring grant recipients were chosen after a three-month application and selection process that drew over 170 applications:

Home for Life Design — Salisbury: Provides an innovative home assessment solution for healthcare professionals and paraprofessionals, enabling clients to stay in their home and community safely and independently, for life.

b.combs – Cary: A mentoring platform specifically designed to take the administrative burden off of nonprofits and other organizations that serve youth.

Boreas Monitoring – Wrightsville Beach: A B2B SaaS company with a patented system to remotely monitor liquid nitrogen tanks in the fertility industry and others managing critical assets.

Salus – Charlotte: A digital underwriting platform that leverages lenders’ existing information on their borrowers to deliver a faster, cheaper, fairer lending decision.

Tromml – Chapel Hill: The only profit optimization tool designed for the unique needs of automotive aftermarket e-commerce sellers.

Vetletics – Cary: Dedicated to innovation and raising industry standards for animal health to enhance athletic recovery to maximize performance.

The $50,000 grants are awarded to startups with a proven concept, even if they are not yet profitable. The funds, along with mentorship and guidance,   reduce the risk associated with young firms and provide critical funding they need to scale faster. To learn more, visit www.ncidea.org.