Seven startups in New Mexico landed grants between $25,000 and $100,000 to accelerate technology commercialization previously supported by federal grant awards, state Economic Development Department officials announced Tuesday.
Money comes from the New Mexico SBIR/STTR Matching Grant program, which provides small businesses with additional resources to help commercialize technology developed with the help of federal dollars. It's based on two federal grant programs — Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants.
Startups qualify for awards based on whether they have an active Phase I or II SBIR/STTR grant. Phase I grants are eligible for up to $25,000 in matching state monies; Phase II grants are eligible for up to $100,000 in matching monies. Funding is awarded through a cost reimbursement grant agreement, according to a policy manual on the program.
The seven startups that landed matching state grants are:
- Albuquerque-based Integrated Deposition Solutions Inc., which manufactures and sells aerosol printing technology. ($25,000)
- Albuquerque-based NeurInsight LLC, which is developing brain imaging technology. ($25,000)
- Los Alamos-based Palladias, which has a rare earth element extraction technology. ($25,000)
- Albuquerque-based TS Nano, which produces nano-modified polymer sealants for methane leakage from orphaned oil and gas wells. ($25,000)
- Santa Fe-based Southwest Sciences Inc., which is working on a trace gas detection technology using tunable diode lasers. ($50,000)
- Albuquerque-based VisionQuest Biomedical, which has artificial intelligence-based diagnostic devices for diabetic retinopathy and diabetic peripheral neuropathy, among others. ($50,000)
- Santa Fe-based Molten Salt Solutions, which is developing technology to help produce enriched material for fission and fusion nuclear power. ($100,000)
The Technology Research Collaborative, a state board of science and technology professionals that includes representatives from the University of New Mexico Rainforest Innovations, Sandia National Laboratories and the New Mexico Angels, helped select the seven startups.
Grant awards are based around several statewide target industries, including bioscience, sustainable energy and aerospace, the director of the EDD's Office of Strategy, Science, and Technology, Nora Meyers Sackett, said in a statement.
State grant money can be used for expenses such as intellectual property assessment, patent filing, outside lab testing and validation, regulatory assessment and certifications, meeting with customers, partners or investors, attending trade shows, market research and data acquisition. Things like payroll expenses or laboratory or business equipment are ineligible uses of grant funding, per the program manual.
