Shout out to half a dozen intrepid innovators — Arkansas-based small business owners — who submitted their first applications to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s seed funding program.
They targeted their diligently crafted SBIR/STTR proposal submissions to the agency’s September deadline.
The innovators participated in the Lab2Launch Accelerator, a multi-week series of online class meetings and one-on-one counseling provided by the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, Arkansas APEX Accelerator, and Independent Platform consultants.
The L2L Accelerator assists first-time Arkansas applicants with preparing strong Small Business Innovation Research or Small Business Technology Transfer proposals.
The competitive proposal process requires many hours of familiarization and preparation in an attempt to secure federal non-dilutive funding for the proof-on-concept phase of their respective commercialization goals.
USDA awards Phase I grants up to $175,000 once a year.
The investment of time and resources needed to put together a winning proposal is significant. Our thanks and congratulations to those companies who made it to the finish line!
We plan to provide a similar Lab2Launch Accelerator in early 2025 for applicants whose innovative projects align with the National Institutes of Health commercialization funding priorities. Contact Karen Bergh at kbergh@ualr.edu for more information.