Back in March I blogged about — and sang the praises of — the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and its companion STTR program. Together, those Federal programs provide nearly $2.5B of non-dilutive grant funding annually to technology start-ups and other small businesses. As I pointed out, there’s a regional “SBIR deficit,” meaning that while Pittsburgh’s universities are doing well at garnering Federal research dollars, the region is falling short when it comes to capturing funding from the SBIR programs. Collectively, we are leaving over $10M of NIH SBIR funding on the table, funding that can be acquired with some work.

Some entrepreneurs I’ve talked to are unconvinced that SBIR grants are for them. For instance, they say, “I don’t know enough about them.” Well, on June 19th in the heart of Oakland, your crash-course in all things SBIR awaits. Several state and regional entrepreneur support organizations have teamed up to bring the Federal government’s “SBIR Road Tour” to Pittsburgh. No fewer than 14 representatives of agencies including DHS, DOD, DOE, NSF, NIH, NASA, and USDA will be here to explain their programs and describe them in detail. Through panel discussions, they’ll also share insider information like common mistakes made by proposers and how to better align your business to SBIR topics. Most importantly, you’ll have the chance to have one-on-one meetings with these SBIR program officers.

Other entrepreneurs have told me, “SBIR’s are hard to win.” I point out that there are several counterexamples. But if you still don’t believe me, in one of the afternoon sessions, you’ll get to hear from several local entrepreneurs who have been very successful with the SBIR program: four companies that collectively have received over 50 grants totaling nearly $25M. Maybe better still, the other session will be a panel discussion among people who have actually reviewed SBIR proposals on behalf of the government. If anyone understands how the game is won, they do.

A third complaint that I hear often is, “I’ll have to write a proposal to the government.” Hmmm. Very rarely do we get anything without asking, and just about every funder requires a proposal. True, an SBIR proposal has specific format and content requirements, but they actually aren’t much different than what an angel, VC, or institutional investor would need. My initial rebuttal to the complaint is every company has (or needs) strategies, plans, and roadmaps, and it’s from that body of thinking that all proposals are and can be derived. Further, assistance with SBIR proposal preparation is available.

An important source of that help is none other than Pennsylvania’s Innovation Partnership, aka, the organization that is bringing the SBIR Road Tour to Pittsburgh. IPart’s programs include micro-vouchers for “buying” proposal development assistance from seasoned SBIR veterans, as well as pre-submission reviews of draft SBIR proposals. IPart’s new website www.innovationpartnership.net also has links to SBIR program solicitations from all of the Federal agencies.

You can register – and should soon, because space is limited and the seats are going fast – for the SBIR Road Tour in Pittsburgh at innovationpartnership.net/event/sbir-road-tour-coming-to-pittsburgh-pa/. The Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse and just about every regional entrepreneurial assistance organization will be on hand.

SBIR Road Tour – – See you there.

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In my most recent blog for PLSG, I described the value – both in the short-term for immediate funding and in the long-term for potentially gaining access to Federal sources of capital – of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the companion Small business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) programs.

These Congressionally mandated programs require all agencies that fund R&D to set aside 3.5% of their extra-mural research budgets for companies that have fewer than 500 employees. And we are in the thick of the application season right now for the National Institutes of Health, which among hundreds of topics, is looking to fund the hot area of Health IT.

For instance, NIH’s current call for entrepreneurial applications includes a topic titled, “Population Health Data Using Blockchain Technology,” as one of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) areas of interest.

The CDC is also interested in “Improving Platforms for Data Linkage in Drug Overdose Prevention,” which it describes as “the creation of new platforms, algorithms, or software packages to allow for linkage of data in the area of drug overdose prevention. Such technologies will allow public health practitioners to link injury-related health, behavioral health, and law enforcement data to strengthen drug monitoring surveillance by public health departments.”

NIH points out that technology for technology’s sake is rarely sufficient, stating “Software developers must attend to privacy concerns associated with these data systems (e.g., protected health and law enforcement data). Software must be user-friendly, and accompanied by guidance for states and localities to use the platform or algorithm.”

Likewise, the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering is interested in telehealth technology, emphasizing development that includes usability and addresses real-world deployment considerations. So, a word to pure algorithm developers: Hook up with interaction designers, technical writers, cybersecurity experts and, yes, lawyers, to craft an appropriately well-rounded development approach.

The CDC is even interested in funding adaptive driving technologies that will reduce or prevent the injuries that result from automobile crashes, acknowledging the long-standing realization – not unlike the advent of seat belts – that this is very much a public health issue.

The CDC is also seeking technologies to address concussions, specifically tools that parents can use to monitor, record, and report post-traumatic brain injury symptoms.

The National Institute on Aging, which, at last check, had the 7th largest budget among NIH’s institutes and centers, is interested in a wide variety of mainstream Health Information Technologies, including health databases, tools for data sharing, and big data analytics. NIA is also interested in AI and machine learning approaches to early diagnosis of age-related illnesses.

Further, NIA wants systems that integrate Health IT to wearable and prosthetic-embedded sensors for a variety of applications that include gait analysis and diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment.

As a final example, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which has the 4th largest budget within NIH, has a whole Division of Biomedical Technology, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology.

Those are among topics listed in the current call’s Appendix that contains topics for which Phase 1 and Phase 2 budgets are allowed to exceed $225,000 and $1.5 million, respectively. Because it contains those and other potentially especially lucrative opportunities, we always strongly encourage companies to scan the Appendix first. We also echo NIH’s strong encouragement to contact Program Officers early and often to discuss alignment before preparing grant applications.

For guidance and assistance in accessing and completing SBIR/STTR grant applications, visit https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-18-123.html. The next deadline is April 5 – still plenty of time, but not much to waste.

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Say, Mr. or Ms. Life Sciences Entrepreneur – How does a direct path to Federal funding sound? A means of gaining capital to accelerate technology development? A way to leapfrog your way to product commercialization?

Sound good? You bet it does. That’s why, if you’re a startup or other small life sciences business and you aren’t plugged into the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, you’re missing out big time.

SBIR and the companion Small business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) programs have Congressionally mandated requirements of all agencies that fund R&D to set aside 3.5% of their extra-mural research budgets for companies that have fewer than 500 employees.

Agencies that participate (and their recent SBIR/STTR allocations) include the National Science Foundation at more than $200 million, the National Institutes of Health at more than $900 million, and the Department of Defense at more than $1 billion. For entrepreneurs and start-up companies, SBIR and STTR offer the chance to plug directly into these sources of Federal funding.

The recent Brookings Institution report, Capturing the Next Economy: Pittsburgh’s Rise as a Global Innovation City, points out that our region is experiencing what we at PLSG call an “SBIR deficit,” stating, “[regional] pre-seed and other startup support activities are insufficient to meet the needs of the city’s deep bench of research entrepreneurs, and the gap is only growing as Pitt and CMU increase their translational research capacity.”

Our own more detailed analysis of the SBIR deficit indicates that the region is leaving about $13 million a year of grants from NIH and NSF on the table. That equates to regional startups missing out on roughly 30 seed-stage grants (at $150,000 each) and 10 early stage grants (at between $750,000 and $1 million each).

And please note the word “grants.” These are not loans or investments expecting a payback or share of equity. That also means the funding to your company is non-dilutive. And this region is not capitalizing on this available capital in anywhere near the potential that exists.

NIH’s current call (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-18-574.html) includes literally hundreds of topics spanning dozens of institutes, centers, and divisions. We are especially pleased to see that it includes a number of topics related to Health IT, one of the Pittsburgh region’s most promising areas of life sciences start-up company proliferation and growth. Indeed, it reflects opportunities in all of the hottest Health IT markets and the most contemporary of technologies.

If you are SBIR-savvy, you already know that a single SBIR thread of R&D can provide nearly $5 million of funding for your start-up (combined Phases I, II and II-b). If you didn’t know that, now you do.

One thing you may not know is that they’ve changed some rules of engagement, including a new policy on clinical trials and a new process for submitting applications called FORMS-E. Details are in https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-18-123.html. The next deadline is April 5 – still plenty of time, but not much to waste.

My next blog will describe some specific areas of opportunity for local entrepreneurs interested in pursuing SBIR and STTR grants.

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