I had a great conversation today with Orlando Lopez, PhD, the Director of the Dental Materials and Biomaterials Program of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) about applying for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for iDentical. Yikes, what a mouthful! In short, I found a great opportunity for iDentical to apply for a government grant for up to $225K (Phase I) and up to $1M (Phase II), and it's all non-dilutive funding!
There is a catch (or two), of course. It requires a huge time investment to put the long, complex grant application together (most people who have done it advise you take an extensive course to walk you through how to do it), and then it takes several months before you hear a response. And, apparently, it's super competitive. But.... I was encouraged by my conversation with Orlando, and I'm ready to take on the challenge!
Lucky for us, QB3 offers a workshop to help folks like me learn how to navigate the SBIR grant application process, and there's a specialty advisor within Tech Futures Group who is an expert in SBIR grants. So, I intend to take full advantage of these resources and plan to submit an SBIR application for iDentical by the April 5th deadline. Wish us luck!