Photo: RootWords

PARK CITY, Utah — Charlotte O’Connell started RootWords, Inc. in October 2022. On Aug. 7 America’s Seed Fund (ASF), powered by the National Science Foundation, announced that RootWords will receive $272,780 to prove the feasibility, technical merit and commercial potential of the RootWords app.

The grant allows O’Connell to proceed with research and development of the RootWords app, a vocabulary learning app to help students, travelers and others learn new and challenging vocabulary based on cognates of Latin-based languages.

What America’s Seed Fund does

ASF awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses. The goal is to transform scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $2 million in non-dilutive funds to support research and development, helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $9 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.

Utah businesses received $2.3 million in Phase I funding in 2023

Funding is divided into Phase I and Phase II, which require separate applications. In Phase I, a business can receive up to $305,000 in non-dilutive funding for research and development to build their prototype or proof-of-concept. After successfully completing Phase I, a business may receive up to $1,250,000. In 2023 ASF awarded $2,352,857 to Utah businesses in Phase I. Park City’s Powder Watts, LLC, received an award of $274,922 in 2023 for vision-enhanced, high-efficiency heat cable control.

Retired pilot moves into education sector

After receiving a B.A. in English, Charlotte O’Connell served in the US Air Force, followed by 33 years as a pilot for American Airlines. During that time, she lived in Mongolia for 8 months, which sparked her interest in communication. This is when she first came up with the concept for the RootWords game for learning vocabulary. She enrolled at George Mason University and obtained a Certificate in International Baccalaureate Education, Educational Leadership and Administration in 2013. She has now been a Park City resident for 12 years.