In This Issue ...

• TABA Funding for Phase I and Phase II Awardees
• North Carolina SBIR/STTR Awardee Roundtable Promotes a Community of Sharing
• SBIR Match and Incentive Programs - Recorded Presentation
• SBIR/STTR Awards to NC Companies Surpasses $134M in 2021
• NSF SBIR/STTR Program Webinar - May 3 at 1 p.m.
• NC Represented Well with EPA SBIR Successes
• AFWERX Air Force SBIR/STTR Program - A Game Changer
• SBTDC Tech Team Update
• Practice, Practice, Practice Your Pitch!
• SBTDC is Co-Located at UNC KickStart Venture Services
• Intellectual Property Protection - Resources From the USPTO

As part of the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for FY2019, SBIR/STTR funding agencies have launched the Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) program. The program is a supplement that must be requested at the time of a Phase I or Phase II submission. The overarching goal of the program is to offer small businesses the resources to carry out the foundational components of a commercialization strategy.

TABA funding requested with a Phase I proposal can be up to $6,500 (amount differs by agency) and can be used to carry out market-based assessments, IP strategy planning, and commercialization plan development to support a Phase II proposal. TABA funding during a Phase II can be up to $50,000 and be used for customer discovery work, to initiate IP coverage, and to secure technical expertise. 

Please contact John Ujvari at the SBTDC via email to request copy of a TABA program overview that was recently presented by Laura Schoppe of Fuentek. 

North Carolina SBIR/STTR Awardee Roundtable Promotes a Community of Sharing

The SBTDC’s Tech Team hosted a virtual gathering of over 30 current and recent North Carolina-based SBIR/STTR awardees in March. Awardee roundtables offer a venue for awardees to come together to learn about and discuss specific topics that government-funded, innovation-driven companies face. Equally as important is the opportunity for fellow awardees to connect and learn from each other. All companies in the early stage innovation ecosystem can benefit from sharing their experiences and lessons of hard knocks with each other. We have a terrific ecosystem crossing many technology disciplines here in North Carolina. 

We are a community chock full of wisdom that can be capitalized upon. All boats float when the tide rises. We look forward to hosting the next roundtable this summer. 

An overview of the One North Carolina Small Business Program’s Match and Incentive Program was recently presented by John Hardin and Dave Kaiser of the NC Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation. Both programs were funded for the current fiscal year. 

The incentive program provides the opportunity for small businesses located in North Carolina that submitted a Phase I proposal to be reimbursed for expenses incurred in developing and submitting the proposal. The reimbursement limits are up to $6,000 for companies based in Tier 3 counties and up to $12,000 for companies based in Tier 1 and 2 counties. The match program offers funds of up to $75,000 for North Carolina companies that have received a Phase I award during the specified period.

A recording of the presentation, which includes details about the program, eligibility, and submission information, is available here.

An analysis of SBIR/STTR awards made to North Carolina businesses in 2021 demonstrates some very encouraging developments. North Carolina small businesses secured $134.6M via 138 Phase I and 114 Phase II awards, as of the time of this analysis. This is the highest ever for North Carolina and represents 4% of the national total. North Carolina now ranks 7th in the nation in terms of total award dollars, behind only California, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The table below outlines the federal agencies and phases of awards that were made to North Carolina companies in 2021.

The NSF will fund over $300M to small businesses this year in R&D for innovative technologies. On May 3 at 1 p.m., join NSF program manager, Dr. Murali Nair, for a virtual presentation on the NSF SBIR/STTR programs, R&D topics of interest, pitch and proposal submission tips, and a discussion of the proposal review process. Also included will be a panel of NSF SBIR/STTR awardees who will share their experiences and offer guidance.  

The session will be co-hosted by the NC SBTDC and the CA SBDC. Registration is no charge but is required. 

Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5785327141628709643

NC Represented Well with EPA SBIR Successes

North Carolina companies are represented well in the latest round of EPA SBIR awards. Three out of 31 Phase I awards and one out of nine Phase II awards nationally were made to North Carolina-based companies. Awardees and their project titles include:

• Triangle Environmental Health Initiative (Phase I) – A Compact, Modular Wastewater Treatment System for Non-Potable Reuse of Household Greywater
• Triangle Environmental Health Initiative (Phase II) – Zero-Waste (ZeWa) Water and Energy Recovery System
• Geomentric Data Analytics (Phase I) – Topological Simplification and Machine Learning for Real-time Prediction of Off-target Pesticide
• GreenLifeTech Corporation - Automatic Food Preservation in the Retail Environment

The next EPA SBIR solicitation is scheduled to open in June. Please check the EPA SBIR site for updates or sign up for the EPA SBIR Listserv to receive notifications of new funding opportunities. 

AFWERX Air Force SBIR/STTR Program

A Game Changer

The Air Force is one component of the DoD SBIR/STTR program, and they offer a unique program called AFWERX to apply for Phase I and Phase II SBIR/STTR funding. AFWERX offers “open” and “specific” topics. 

Open topics offer the ability for small businesses to propose solutions to the Air Force that they may not have thought to ask for. A proposal that responds to an open topic can lead to a short, 3-month effort with an award amount of $50,000 and should include both feasibility and customer discovery (internal to Air Force) components. The actual proposal submission, called the “technical volume” is quite unique in that it is a 25 slide PowerPoint presentation and the turn-around time for review is often much shorter (in the 3 month range). 

A plethora of recorded content is available about the AFWERX program at: https://www.afsbirsttr.af.mil/Events/AFVentures-Weekly-Webinar-Series/

Contact the SBTDC Tech Team to discuss this mechanism.

SBTDC Tech Counselor and Equity Specialist Mike Carnes has left the SBTDC after 9 years to join the investment team at the NC Biotechnology Center (NCBC). Mike joined us as a Tech Counselor and then took on the added role of leading our equity investment efforts, including the signature Becoming an Investor-Ready Entrepreneur (IRE) program. His contributions helped take the SBTDC to a new level, both in terms of the IRE program itself and in our relationships with angels and early stage VCs. Mike will definitely be missed, but we look forward to working with him in his new role at NCBC.

Practice, Practice, Practice Your Pitch!

Every business needs to be able to clearly and effectively tell its story. You may be preparing for your business to raise capital. Alternatively, you may be looking for feedback on your business. No matter who your audience is, you need to practice your pitch beforehand! We practice many other things in life. Tying our shoes, riding a bike, singing a song. Pitches are no different.

Plan some time before the big day, enough time to run through it with co-workers, friends, family, anyone that can listen. As part of what we do on a day-to-day basis at the SBTDC, we see a lot of pitches and presentations, and the ones that have clearly practiced ahead of time are set apart from their peers.  

Practice also boosts your confidence. Repetition lets you work through the cadence and right inflections. Speak it aloud; work to add emotions and facial expressions into it at the right moments to drive a point home. Once you have the words memorized more or less, and the key points on each slide wrote in memory, you will have more time to gauge the audience, focus on your stance or facial expressions and hand gestures. You will feel confident and happy instead of nervous or worried. That will come through to whom you are presenting to.

The SBTDC is glad to be a sounding board for your pitch. Numerous other places can help too. Check with your local co-working offices for opportunities, check out 1millioncups.com, pitch breakfast events, pitch competitions, and invite some friends over for pizza and a pitch.

Tech Team member, Rachel Burton, maintains an office on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus and currently supports many of the UNC KickStart programs including the Venture Catalyst Fellows Program and their Entrepreneur-In-Residence network. 

KickStart Venture Services, a department in Innovate Carolina’s Office of Technology Commercialization at UNC-Chapel Hill, supports research-based startup formation and growth by providing education, early-stage funding, and on-campus accelerator space. KickStart also connects founders to key service providers, management, and investors in the local innovation ecosystem. The SBTDC office is located in the Institute for Convergent Science on the second floor of the Genome Sciences Building in the heart of UNC's campus with the KickStart Accelerator. KickStart provides a great home for startups, offering space designed to foster collaboration and encourage innovation. The 7,500 square-foot accelerator and its programming are managed by the KickStart Venture Services team, and offer wet lab and office space, including shared equipment, cubicles, meeting spaces, and common areas that support collaborative innovation for Carolina-affiliated life science companies.

If you are looking for non-dilutive funding, preparing to submit an SBIR/STTR grant proposal, or want to discuss commercialization strategy, feel free to connect with Rachel on the UNC campus on either Wednesday or Thursdays. You can contact Rachel at rburton@sbtdc.org.

Intellectual Property Protection

Resources from the USPTO

The US Patent and Trademark Office offers a plethora of resources for entrepreneurs. 

Visit the resources page at the USPTO website.

The Office hosts a wide variety of training sessions. A calendar of upcoming sessions is available at https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/events.

An event series of interest is the 4-part “Path to a Patent” that meets once a week over four Thursdays from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. in April. The Path to a Patent series covers everything from intellectual property basics, to patent searching, to what you will need to draft and submit your patent application. The series is part of its ongoing intellectual property training for independent inventors, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. The agenda and registration page is available here.

MORE SBTDC TARGETED SERVICES

SELLING TO THE GOVERNMENT

The SBTDC's Government Contracting Assistance Program educates business associates on how to obtain contracts by providing comprehensive assistance in selling products and services to local, state, and federal government agencies.

Learn more >>

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

The SBTDC's International Business Development Counselors assist small and mid-sized businesses with export planning and exporting.

Learn more >>

The Technology Commercialization Services team provides one-on-one business counseling and advice to: small business owners, university researchers, and entrepreneurs looking to advance their innovations to the marketplace.

For more information, click here.

NICOLE SCHWERBROCK

Director, Technology Development & Commercialization

Statewide

RACHEL BURTON

Technology Commercialization Counselor

Central NC

BRYAN DENNSTEDT

Technology Commercialization Counselor

Western NC

JOHN UJVARI

SBIR/STTR Specialist & Newsletter Editor

Statewide



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