MANCHESTER — TechOut, a $100,000 high-tech startup competition organized by the New Hampshire High Tech Council and abi Innovation Hub, is accepting applications through Aug. 13.

“We're keeping the process as simple as possible because we really want to attract a strong pool of applicants,” said Matt Cookson, executive director of the council.

Applications can be downloaded from http://abihub.org/techout.

TechOut, underwritten by the NH Millworks Fund, will award cash prizes of $50,000 for first place, $30,000 for second and $20,000 for third.

“The funds are terrific, but the support that winning companies could leverage through the judges and funders is invaluable,” Cookson said.

The first two prizes will be awarded based on judges' decisions. Third prize will be crowd-sourced. When finalists present to a live audience Sept. 20, audience members will get to vote for third prize. The event will be held at Nanocomp Technologies in Merrimack.

Lead sponsors for the Sept. 20 event are PSNH, Centrix Bank, FairPoint Communications, Cook, Little, Rosenblatt and Manson PLLC, and Dyn Inc. DunnRush is a supporting sponsor and BerryDunn, and the N.H. Innovation Commercialization Center are promotional sponsors.

NH Millworks Fund was formed by a group of 20 accredited New Hampshire investors who have committed to providing $500,000 to support the TechOut competition for five years.

“It's not just that we are going to give $100,000 away; it's that we are going to help these young, growing companies get found,” said Jamie Coughlin, abi Innovation Hub CEO.

“We also have a pool of 20 investors that can add to that,” he said.

dpaiste@unionleader.com