The New Jersey Economic Development Authority unveiled the first recipients of a $5 million state aid program meant to help keep afloat investments into startups that might otherwise fall through as businesses find their revenue drying up amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Friday, the NJEDA said it was supporting a dozen investments, totaling $700,000, into five separate businesses: Roselle Park-based dog food company 3D Customs Food Corp.; Holmdel-based technology company Hope Portal Services; Manalapan-based sports and fitness company iSport360; Princeton biosensor development firm Ricovy HealthCare; and Eatontown-based adhesives manufacturer SunRay Scientific.

This comes as the agency sees tens of thousands of applicants vie for an increasingly limited pool of funds for grants and loans meant to offer establishments a lifeline, as the pandemic and ensuing recession shatter commerce and business.

Under the NJ Entrepreneur Support Program, eligibility is limited to businesses with less than 25 employees and up to $5 million in revenue.

Loan guarantees are up to 80 percent, capped at $200,000 per startup, meaning the NJEDA would effectively use up to that amount as collateral against the loan.

The guarantees being sought are applied toward investments made after March 26, when the Federal Emergency Management Agency granted New Jersey a major disaster declaration.

“Continued investments into New Jersey’s emerging innovation companies is fundamental to their ability to survive, especially as they seek to weather the financial impacts of COVID-19,” NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan said in a Friday statement.

Only businesses that specialize in advanced manufacturing, information technology, life sciences, finance and insurance, clean energy, food and beverage, transportation, or film and digital media are eligible for the program.

The state was in a virtual state of lockdown between mid-March and early May in a bid to stop the spread of COVID-19 across the state. Those restrictions were only lifted throughout June and into the July 4 weekend.

Many businesses, ordered to close, have seen revenues dry up—hence the tens of millions in state aid.

A $45 million pot of NJEDA grants, financed by federal dollars from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, had more than 31,000 applicants as of June 16, half of which will most likely be wait-listed, Sullivan said. He expects the money from those grants to be out the door by July, at the latest.

As of June 22, more than $10.1 million had been paid out in grant money to 3,327 businesses.

Demand also soared for the NJEDA’s $10 million small business loan program, with 3,260 businesses applying for a combined $228.7 million from the state’s much smaller pot of money.

Twenty loan applications were approved for a total of $1.06 million, seven of which were closed totaling $443,000 and nine of which are in the process of closing, totaling $469,000, as of June 15. Another 32 applications are being underwritten.

A bill in the state Legislature would allocate another $100 million toward these loan and grant programs.

Still, lawmakers have shown frustration with how the program rolled out as funds dried up hours after applications went live, with many business owners complaining that despite multiple efforts, they never received any state aid.

A bill that the Senate Economic Growth Committee passed on Thursday would require the NJEDA to publish a list of all applicants for state aid money during any state of emergency and economic downturns. The agency would also have to disclose whether the applicant was approved or denied for assistance.

“A transparent government is one that has the public’s trust. This is especially important during times of crisis,” the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Troy Singleton, D-7th District, said in a Thursday statement. “This bill would allow the public to have a clear picture of how the EDA distributes funding during emergencies and economic disruption.”