Five businesses to relocate to state after receiving Innovate Alabama grant

Innovate Alabama will award nearly $4 million to 22 small businesses, including five minority- and women-owned businesses, in its fourth round of the Innovate Alabama Supplemental Grant Program.

Since August 2022, the program has awarded more than $13 million to 68 grant awardees. For the first time, the grant program has expanded beyond the borders of Alabama, recruiting five new businesses to relocate to the state as required for the funding. The requirement gives the businesses a 12-month window after receiving grant funds to relocate their headquarters and the majority of their teams to Alabama.

“With this new round of funding, we are proud to continue providing opportunities to our homegrown businesses while also recruiting new businesses to the state,” said Innovate Alabama CEO Cynthia Crutchfield. “This largest class of supplemental grant recipients to date is a testament to the growth of what Innovate Alabama is working to accomplish by increasing access to resources for businesses across the state.”

 Of the 22 recipients, 17 of the small businesses are currently based in Alabama and received an average of more than $175,000. The remaining five out-of-state recipients are required to relocate their headquarters to Alabama from Delaware, Florida, Illinois and Wyoming within the next 12 months as part of the funding agreement. Those companies are Biomineral Systems LLC of Wyoming; Dynamac Microwave Inc. of Illinois; iNOvodel Inc. of Delaware; Pentamer Biologies LLC of Florida; and Vanquish Bio of Florida.

Selected Alabama entrepreneurs who previously received federal Phase I or Phase II SBIR or STTR grants were awarded up to $250,000 of supplemental funding to support the growth of their small businesses. The funding is non-dilutive, meaning recipients do not have to give up equity in their company. This round’s in-state Innovate Alabama Supplemental Grant recipients are located in Auburn, Birmingham and Huntsville. 

Recipients from this round of the Innovate Alabama Supplemental Grant Program include:

Applications for the next round of funding will open in early June 2024. Eligible companies should have received a federal SBIR or STTR award that is valid on or after July 1, 2023.