Use of Funds Details

After June 30, 2027, when the program ends, does this purchase still have value to you?

If the answer is “no”, because you used it to build and prototype your product - is was consumed; machined, soldered, tested, burned down, blown up - it is most likely approved.

If the answer is “yes”, because you still own a machine, a license, a computer you could resell, the answer is most likely not.

We make this distinction because we’re awarding you Kansas taxpayer money, and its purpose is to prove a project, not capitalize your hobby. Grant money that buys materials, expertise, and testing is buying the things you need to prove your idea works.

We report expenditures to the Kansas Department of Commerce at the end of the program, and what we report helps determine if the program continues on. We want it to keep going for founders yet to come.

Software and Licenses

What we will not fund

We don’t buy software licenses. That includes annual subscriptions, perpetual licenses, and lifetime deals.

Some named examples are below:

  • SolidWorks

  • AutoDesk products like Fusion360, AutoCAD, and more

  • PTC Creo

  • CATIA

  • Adobe Creative Cloud

Why won’t we fund one-year licenses

A twelve-month license bought in November 2026 runs through most if not all of the program. Then, you still hold the seat. You’ve essentially converted grant money into a business asset that you can use to generate revenue for projects outside the grant. And the Maker Labs either has seats for several of these programs or has someone in-network who can help. This same logic applies to subscriptions that last longer than the grant period.

Why won’t we fund a lifetime licenses

Same reason. Maybe worse. This converts grant money into a long-term asset. The program runs under a year.

We do we do

Groover Labs provides CAD access as part of the award for those who need it through a variety of sources and recommendations (including building alpha version on free version of the software). If you need some of this software, come talk to us. In most cases, we’ll be able to find you access.

Rural founders

If the drive to Wichita makes the Maker Labs software access difficult, please let us know so we can work on an equitable solution together.

Equipment and Hardware

Why we won’t buy you 3D printers and drones, or other similar equipment.

Buying 3D printers, drones, or other similar equipment is asking to buy equipment you can keep. The purchase of one 3D printer is less efficient and will slow you down. You’re spending grant money with one capability and a learning curve. Deploy those same funds in our Maker Lab or with partners in our network means better materials, better use of time, fewer outsourced prints, and faster production time.

If your project requires printing our lab cannot accommodate, the answer is not to buy a new printer. It is to pay a vendor or someone in the network who already has one, knows how to use it, and will help prove out your design. Better still, those are approved uses of funding under project-specific materials.

Drones

The same goes for drones. If you’re building a drone, the components go into the prototypes, and those are approved. Even frames, motors, flight controllers, and the like, all fall under project materials.

We will not fund buying a commercial drone. Aerial photography for marketing, site surveying, or camera platforms are capital purchases, not project expenses. Plus, in those instances, you’d keep the drone.

Laptops, desktops, tablets, and phones

We don’t fund general purpose computers. You most likely had a computer before you applied for this grant, and you’ll have one after, too.

We will consider computing hardware when the machine is part of the product instead of the workspace where you design the product.

We will not buy you a laptop because you’re current one isn’t fast enough, nor will we buy you a second monitor or tablet for demonstration tables.

If you think your case is one that should be approved, submit it to us as an exception. Or ask about it on an Office Hours call.

Tools and Shop equipment

Equipment that equates to consumable tooling is acceptable. Drill bits, end mills, sand paper, blades, jigs, and the fixtures you build for your project all get used up or made specifically for the work are within bounds.

What we consider durable tools, or tools that go into a shop, are now. Bandsaws. Wedlers. Bench power supplies. Oscilloscopes. A soldering station. These are all pieces of equipment the Maker Lab already has, so you don’t need to spend grant funding on them. Part of the point of the project is for you to spend as much of your funding as possible on the product and its development, not the things that help you build it.

If you require smaller tools that are not available, please, come talk to us before you spending grant funding on them.

AI, Compute, and Software Infrastructure

Approved: metered usage where the model or the service is part of what you’re building.

Billed by consumption, tied to a project account, scaling with your prototype’s actual function. This should cover:

  • API inference costs

  • Hosted model access billed per token or per call

  • Training or fine-tuning compute for your own model

  • Cloud hosting, storage, and bandwidth for your protytpe

  • Database, authentication, and other backend services your product runs on

Not approved: seat-based subscriptions used as a general work tool

Consumer chat assistant plans and coding agent seats. We treat these the same way we treat CAD software. They are general-purpose tools you would use across any project, and the continues after the program ends.

We’re not judging whether or not you should use these tools. We use them. We assume you use them, too. We are saying the same thing that we say about SolidWorks and Fusion360, and for the same reason. Grant funding does not exist for you to use it on other projects to generate revenue outside of your project.

Generally

If a review committee member can look at your invoice that sees usage that scales with your product and its operations, it’s approved. If the invoice shows a flat monthly fee, probably not.

Materials and Fabrication

Approved use

  • Raw materials: metal, plastic, wood, composites, textiles

  • Filament, resin, other 3D printing materials

  • Electronic components, sensors, motors, controllers, PCBs, PCB fabrication runs

  • Fasteners, adhesives, wiring, connectors

  • Lab consumables

  • Machine time on lab equipment beyond what a membership covers

  • Outside fab, machining, injection molding, prototype runs

Keep invoices itemized as best you can. “Hardware, $340” will need more specific answers.

Expert Support

Support costs are approved when you pay someone with a skill you don’t know how to do but fits into your project.

  • Engineering consultation

  • Industrial and mechanical design

  • Prototyping and fabrication services

  • Firmware or software contract work for prototypes

  • Testing, certification, and compliance testing

  • Regulatory and standards guidence

We need a scope of work or an invoice that describes what you’re buying. “Consulting, $2,000” or “Software, $5,000” is not enough.

Education and Training

This will be approved if the training moves the project forward in a meaningful way.

  • Technical courses and workshops

  • Certifications that are relevant to your project.

Degree programs and general business courses are not funded. Neither is training you would pursue regardless of this project.

Customer Discovery

This will be approved because validation is an important part of proving out your concept.

  • Regional travel to events where you test your project

  • User testing process

  • Some materials built for demonsrtation

Marketing and advertising are not funded. Ad spends, branding, PR, sponsorships, and general promotional work are functions of selling, not building.

What we don’t fund

General overhead. Rent, utilities, internet, phone, insurance, office supplies. These are the cost of doing business.

Salaries and your own time. Your pay, your co-founder’s pay, and employee wagers. The grant funds the project’s material and expert needs, not your income.

Financing costs. Debt service, loan payments, interest, refinancing, and savings. Grant funding should go toward building your product.

Prior costs. Anything you spent before your award date. We can only fund work done during the grant period.

Business formation and basic legal. LLC filings, registered agents, standard contracts, and accounting services.