 |
SBIR/STTR Funding Success - Kepley Bio Systems
Kepley BioSystems has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to develop a novel approach to the diagnosis and management of septicemia and sepsis. The grant, "A Rapid, Sensitive Pathogen Typing and Antibiotic Sensitivity Test for Bloodstream Infections" builds upon the company's previous ecological work to aquaculture horseshoe crabs to curtail their demise.
An Atlantic horseshoe crab as part of the interventional ecological aquaculture efforts conducted at Kepley BioSystems to reduce biomedical dependence on wild horseshoe crab stocks for LAL production.
The blood of the horseshoe crab has a unique cellular component, Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) that has bacterial specificity and sensitivity in the parts-part-trillion range. For decades, the global healthcare has depended on the LAL substrate to meet the FDA biomedical sterility requirements that protect the safety of pharmaceuticals and implantable devices.
Demystifying the Divide Between Academia and Small Business
For the fourth year in a row, the SBTDC's Tech Commercialization Team was profiled in "Business North Carolina." Highlighted in this month's publication is an article that demonstrates the assistance our team provides to early-stage companies that spin out of North Carolina universities.
NIH 2021 SBIR/STTR Solicitations Released
Did you know that the majority of the funded HHS small business projects are investigator-initiated? Every year, HHS releases the Small Business Program omnibus grant solicitations, also known as funding opportunity announcements (FOAs), to encourage small businesses to submit their innovative ideas and bring them to patients in need.
NIH, CDC and FDA participate in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding opportunities:
NIH also has funding opportunities for Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR):
- Mission and research topics
- Budget guidelines and other unique features
- Staff contacts
Each funding opportunity has unique requirements - please read carefully.
Upcoming Symposium - Support to the Warfighter
Medical Support to the Warfighter, will connect businesses in North Carolina with military and other federal agencies that require or purchase medical supplies, equipment, devices, pharmaceutical, medical information technology and medical services. Representatives from the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services, their prime vendors and major contractors -- from national commands and from bases, commands and facilities in North Carolina -- will highlight current technology or resource gaps and needs, future requirements and procurement processes to supply military and federal medical facilities and agencies. All medical-related businesses in North Carolina -- large or small, prime contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, manufacturers and service providers -- will benefit from briefings on military requirements, procurement processes and supplier qualifications, from informal networking with buyers and users, and from exhibiting or viewing demonstrations of the latest medical technologies designed to support America's warfighters.
WHEN: September 29-30, 2021
WHERE: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The Friday Conference Center
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Registration Open - "Raising Capital for
Pharmaceutical Development"
"Becoming an Investor-Ready Entrepreneur" (IRE) is a long-standing program of the SBTDC focused on helping entrepreneurs understand investor expectations and concepts that are critical when raising investment capital.
After speaking with entrepreneurs and life science ecosystem stakeholders in North Carolina about their needs, we are excited to announce the creation of our first industry specific version of the program: "Raising Equity Capital for Pharmaceutical Development."
Those familiar with the IRE program will recognize the format; rapid-fire presentations with moderated investor panel discussions throughout. We will discuss topics that are important to drug development companies and ask the panelists to demystify the investment process and clarify key questions. The panel is composed of pharma venture capital investors, entrepreneurs and service providers with years of experience. They are volunteering to share their insider knowledge on these topics:
- The pharmaceutical funding landscape
- The investment processes, valuation and ROI expectations
- How investors view the innovation, intellectual property, market and team
- Pre-clinical milestones, use of funding & financials
- Finding and qualifying investors
- Presenting to investors
- The due diligence process
- Essentials of deal structure (investments and strategic partnerships)
- Boards and exit strategy
If you are an entrepreneur, faculty member or ecosystem stakeholder, you don't want to miss this virtual program on August 26 and September 2.
WHEN: August 26 & September 2; 1:00 - 4:30 PM
WHERE: Virtual
|
|
|
|
|
|
20th Anniversary of SBTDC's Summer Consulting Program
Several 2021 interns attend social gathering with Tech Team in Durham. 2021 marked the 20th anniversary of the SBTDC's Graduate Technology Commercialization Summer Consulting Program. We are pleased to announce that this year's program came to a successful close at the end of July. A few highlights from this year:
- 19 small to medium sized tech companies that are working toward commercialization of their technologies participated
- 10 graduate students participated from Duke MBA and MEM, NC State MBA, UNC MBA and KickStart and Western Carolina MBA
- Over 4,000 hours of consulting service were provided to these companies
- Technologies encompassed by these clients included biotech, agriculture IoT, software, engineering, medical devices, environmental and more
Participating clients shared the following on the value that they received from this year's program:
- "Participating in the SBTDC's Summer Internship Program was definitely valuable for our business. The intern we worked with went above and beyond to help our company with many different tasks. We had daily communication and progress updates throughout the internship program."
- "The intern program of the SBTDC provided a high-quality individual with experience and skills that easily integrated into our business culture. The intern quickly learned what was at the core of our business needs and embarked on creating a novel solution for our business needs. The interns provided a project plan and continually updated it through direct communication with his mentors. The dedication to providing a high-quality product was exemplified by the continuous updates and addition to a complex project following feedback from senior management."
- "As our second round of working with the SBTDC's Summer Internship Program, we again got great value from both the intern selected for us and the incredible support from program leadership. We highly recommend this program and the SBTDC generally for their dedicated support of local business."
- "Nicole was a great addition to the Apie team in helping research and analyze a new disease area for drug development. She worked independently, conducted diligence and market research from available resources to deliver an excellent report. Thank you to the SBTDC for the opportunity to have a summer intern this year."
- "The SBTDC has been brilliant with supporting Natalie's work. The customer discovery work will be invaluable in understanding the potential of the technology we are developing and also in supporting future grant applications. Thank you!"
- "I'm so thrilled that our company has had the opportunity to benefit from the SBTDC's Summer Internship Program this year. Our MBA intern from Duke Fuqua School of Business joined our startup as a true team member. He came to us eager and capable to contribute with a strong support network with the SBTDC. He has been able to achieve meaningful projects and leave us with valuable assets. I highly recommend this program!"
- "The SBTDC's Summer Internship Program is great! Our intern, a UNC-Chapel Hill MBA student, did a great job of introducing new ways of viewing our business plan from what she had learned in her course work. I guess you could say she taught this old dog some new tricks! I hope I returned the favor and she learned much from us!"
- "This partnership has always brought tremendous insight to our business which otherwise we would not have the time to acquire. The thoroughness of our interns' report has been tremendously useful, unbiased, and helped us progress towards the highest value creation activities we could be focused on!"
Over the past 20 years:
- 200 interns and 400 client companies have participated
- 80,000 hours of consulting services have been provided to these early-stage innovation clients, which equates to over 40 person years of service
- Many of the interns have gone on to entrepreneurial endeavors after they graduate starting their own businesses in the process
Impact Venture Funds Are Not Charity
By Chris Veal
Recently, I was privileged to attend a meeting between a small, for-profit business and an impact venture fund. The small business developed an innovation with the potential to benefit society in a substantial way. Its founders were seeking equity funding from the impact venture fund, which has a stated mission to invest in companies whose commercial activity will benefit society in a substantial way. One may consider this type of equity arrangement a mutually symbiotic relationship... squared.
I came away from that meeting with a much clearer understanding of these particular investment relationships. With that, I was able to craft a list of criteria that should be considered for any business seeking impact venture funding. It should be noted that the fund manager was very interested in investing in the company, so the items below came from a place of coaching, rather than discouragement.
Before seeking impact venture funding, companies should consider the following:
- Large social impact
- The impact to society should be very noticeable and measurable.
- Capital markets to solve a social issue
- While some non-dilutive funding is desirable, these types of funds need to be assured that the business model of the company can attract capital investments.
- Profits must drive the social impact
- The impact investor wants assurance that the profits of the company are what is driving the impact.
- They are not interested in profits derived from other traditional products/services being diverted into an impact side of the business to create the social benefit.
- This really boils down to financial viability in that the revenue sustaining the company is the same revenue that is causing the impact. Otherwise, the company may abandon the social impact portion of the business to maximize profits elsewhere. The effect of the impact investment would be nullified.
- Evidence of a strong team in place
- This is a given anytime an investment is made in a company.
- The company must be a going concern
- Impact investors will wish to see one year of operating history with some level of sales revenue for the commercialized products/services providing the social impact.
Admittedly, I thought of impact venture capital investors as being slightly more "charitable" than traditional equity funds. However, I completely see the error in my thinking after the experience that initiated this article. While the rate of return required may be lower for impact venture funds, these funds are still dependent upon the viability of the companies in which they invest for the fund to continue to exist. Furthermore, a company that is not self-sustaining cannot benefit society for very long, regardless of the splendor of their product or service, and this sustainability must come from the product or service during the societal benefit. Finally, impact venture funds are no more willing to take a gamble on a poor team or a company without sales than any other flavor of equity investor. Poorly placed bets will drain a venture fund, and that means that they cannot wager on the sure thing that comes later.
|
|
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.
|
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
The SBTDC's International Business Development Counselors assist small and mid-sized businesses with export planning and exporting.
|
|
|
The Team
|
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.
|
|
Director, Technology Development
& Commercialization
Statewide
|
RACHEL BURTON 
Technology Commercialization Counselor
Eastern NC
| |
Technology Commercialization Counselor
Eastern NC
|
BRYAN DENNSTEDT
Technology Commercialization Counselor
Western NC
|
JOHN UJVARI
SBIR/STTR Specialist & Newsletter Editor
Statewide
|
CHRIS VEAL
Technology Commercialization Counselor
North Central NC
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2021. NC Small Business and Technology Development Center. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
