Form 990 for tax year 2024

Totals

Total revenue

$17,430,772

Total expenses

$16,674,194

Contributions and grants received

$17,350,926

Grants paid

$10,251,384

Program service revenue

$0

Investment income

$79,846

Other revenue

$0

Total assets, end of year

$4,420,957

Total liabilities, end of year

$1,326,347

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$3,094,610

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$15,406,441

Management and general expenses

$1,208,568

Fundraising expenses

$59,185

Program service expenses (Part III)

$15,406,441

Program services were 92.4% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2024

• PLATFORMS FOR ADVANCED WIRELESS RESEARCH (PAWR): PAWR IS REVOLUTIONIZING THE WIRELESS ECOSYSTEM WHILE SUSTAINING US LEADERSHIP AND ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS. FUNDED BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION AND A CONSORTIUM OF THE NATION'S LEADING WIRELESS COMPANIES AND ASSOCIATIONS, THE $100 MILLION PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IS MANAGED BY THE PAWR PROJECT OFFICE (PPO). MAJOR 2024 ACTIVITIES OF THE PPO INCLUDE A) OVERSEEING THE SIGNIFICANT EXPANSIONS OF THE ARA RURAL WIRELESS TESTBED IN IOWA AND THE AERPAW WIRELESS DRONE TESTBED IN NORTH CAROLINA; B) COORDINATING AND ANNOUNCING THE COLLABORATION OF THE POWDER WIRELESS TESTBED IN UTAH WITH INDUSTRY INNOVATOR MAVENIR TO TEST NEW OPEN RAN NETWORKING GEAR IN AN OVER-THE-AIR ENVIRONMENT; C) PROMOTING THE OPEN SOURCE RELEASE OF POWDER'S RADIO DYNAMIC ZONE (RDZ) SOFTWARE FOR USE IN SPECTRUM COEXISTENCE EXPERIMENTS.

  Expenses $10,852,772 · Grants $10,251,384

• SMART BASES: THE US IGNITE SMART BASE TEAM DELIVERED THE SMART INSTALLATION AND COMMUNITY DASHBOARD FOR THE ENGINEER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER (ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS) ON FORT BENNING BASE. IN 2024, US IGNITE ADVANCED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON INTELLIGENT INTRUSION DETECTION AND HEAT RISK MANAGEMENT WHILE EXPANDING TO USE CASES THAT ENHANCE EMERGENCY SERVICES, IMPROVE INSTALLATION READINESS, AND SUPPORT ARMY MODERNIZATION INITIATIVES. US IGNITE ENGAGED INDUSTRY-LEADING VENDORS ACROSS THE PROJECT SECTORS TO PROVIDE A COMMON OPERATING VISION FOR FORT BENNING'S LEADERSHIP.

  Expenses $2,576,486

• US IGNITE COMPLETED TWO DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE PROJECTS IN SALT LAKE CITY (SLC) AND WASHINGTON DC. THE INNOVATE SLC PROJECT INTEGRATED ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING, SMART CITY INNOVATION, AND SMALL BUSINESS CAPACITY-BUILDING EFFORTS. THROUGH TWO COORDINATED WORK AREAS, THE URBAN INNOVATION ACCELERATOR FOR STARTUPS AND THE SMALL BUSINESS TRAINING PROGRAM FOR LOCAL ENTERPRISES, US IGNITE AND ITS PARTNERS SUPPORTED OVER 200 PARTICIPANTS ACROSS 76 INDUSTRIES, FOCUSING ON OPPORTUNITY ZONES AND UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES. THE STARTUP ACCELERATOR DELIVERED MENTORSHIP, TECHNICAL TRAINING, AND INVESTOR ENGAGEMENT TO 24 STARTUPS IN 13 SECTORS, RESULTING IN OVER $3.1 MILLION IN CAPITAL RAISED, $1.27 MILLION IN SBIR FUNDING, AND $350,000 IN NEW REVENUE. CONCURRENTLY, THE SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAM REACHED 183 PARTICIPANTS, EQUIPPING THEM WITH PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE OF SMART CITY TECHNOLOGIES AND FOSTERING STRONGER TIES BETWEEN MINORITY CHAMBERS, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND INDUSTRY PARTNERS. COLLECTIVELY, THESE INITIATIVES STRENGTHENED SALT LAKE CITY'S INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM, ENHANCED WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, AND LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABLE, TECH-DRIVEN ECONOMIC GROWTH AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE.THE US IGNITE DC REGIONAL STARTUP AND WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAM (INNOVATEDMV) SUCCESSFULLY STRENGTHENED THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ECOSYSTEM ACROSS THE WASHINGTON, DC, MARYLAND, AND VIRGINIA REGION. OVER TWO YEARS, THE PROGRAM SUPPORTED 127 STARTUPS AND 263 SMALL BUSINESSES, ENGAGED 40+ ECOSYSTEM PARTNERS, AND HOSTED 25 TRAINING AND NETWORKING EVENTS. HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDED THE AI FOR DMV STARTUPS INITIATIVE, SMART CITIES TRAINING SERIES, AND LEAN BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS WORKSHOP, WHICH EQUIPPED FOUNDERS WITH CUTTING-EDGE TOOLS IN AI INTEGRATION, SMART TECHNOLOGIES, AND SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODELING. THROUGH COLLABORATIONS WITH ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS ARLINGTON BIZLAUNCH, BLACK META AGENCY, AND K STREET CAPITAL, INNOVATEDMV ADVANCED MINORITY BUSINESS PARTICIPATION, FACILITATED ACCESS TO CAPITAL, AND CONNECTED 72 FOUNDERS WITH 25 FUNDERS. THE PROGRAM ALSO LAUNCHED THE INNOVATEDMV WEBSITE, CONDUCTED REGIONAL GAP ASSESSMENTS USING INNOVATIVE VOICE-ENABLED SURVEYS, AND DEVELOPED SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGIES TO CONTINUE DRIVING INNOVATION, INCLUSION, AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BEYOND THE GRANT LIFECYCLE.

  Expenses $860,690

• OTHER

  Expenses $1,116,493

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

• IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

  $3,292,978

  SUBAWARD

• NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

  $2,729,842

  SUBAWARD

• UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

  $2,155,554

  SUBAWARD

• NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

  $924,747

  SUBAWARD

• RICE UNIVERSITY

  $453,180

  SUBAWARD

• WIRELESS RESEARCH CENTER OF NORTH CAROLINA

  $292,025

  SUBAWARD

• MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY

  $102,725

  SUBAWARD

• THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

  $75,720

  SUBAWARD

• CITY OF SAN JOSE

  $75,000

  SUBAWARD

• THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY (RUTGERS)

  $72,037

  SUBAWARD

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Taxable family on this return

Schedule R Parts I, III and IV, as filed. These record ownership and control, not shared board members or money moved.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2024

Filed

12 November 2025

IRS schema version

2024v5.2

Source object

202503179349304110

Check it against the return as filed: the GivingTuesday Data Lake hosts a public copy of the original XML.

The source document this was parsed from is served over the API, which is where bulk and document access live.