Four Kentucky organizations are receiving a part of the U.S. Small Business Administration's $5.4 million in prizes to support inclusive entrepreneurship in the innovation ecosystem.
The SBA announced 84 winners for its Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) and eight winners for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Catalyst competition, a new component aimed at spurring investment in underrepresented communities within the innovation economy at scale. GAFC winners were awarded $50,000 each and SBIR Catalyst winners were awarded $150,000 each.
SBA Administrator Isabell Casillas Guzman said each member of the cohort has innovative plans to support underserved entrepreneurs, including women, people of color and individuals from underrepresented geographic areas.
"The Growth Accelerator prize funds will ensure a wide range of startups and innovators working on cutting edge STEM/R&D ideas have access to technical support and capital," Guzman said in a news release. "The success of the first-ever SBIR Catalyst track will ensure newly piloted regional collaboratives represent the diverse potential of the U.S. innovation ecosystem. And President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda would enable us to ramp up this program even more, helping to reach thousands of innovators from underrepresented communities and geographic areas."
Through its $25 billion Build Back Better agenda, the Biden-Harris Administration could invest an additional $400 million in the GAFC to support start-up accelerators and incubators working with underrepresented entrepreneurs.
The four Kentucky winners include (click on each name to learn more about the organization):
- XLerateHealth (XLH) doing business as XLerator Network and partners (SBIR Catalyst/$150,000)
- Accelerated Innovative Manufacturing — University of Louisville (GAFC/$50,000)
- Kentucky Science and Technology Corp. (KSTC) — Kentucky Commercialization Ventures (KCV) (GAFC/$50,000)
- Inventors Network KY (GAFC/$50,000)
XLH plans to allocate the awarded funds to further advance training and mentoring for life science focused entrepreneurs in an effort to help them understand the path to commercializing their technologies and how to successfully apply for SBIR/STTR funding, according to a news release. The work will focus on faculty, researchers, students and entrepreneurs in minority serving institutions in the NIH-funded XLerator Network, including Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina and West Virginia.
“According to the 2015 National Academies report on Innovation, Diversity, and the SBIR/STTR Programs, only 7% of awards went to minority-owned small businesses (MOSBs), and Black and Hispanic owned small businesses represent an even smaller share of MOSB’s overall,” says Jackie Willmot, CEO and co-founder of XLH, in the release. “The Catalyst Award will build on important work to support underserved regions and populations and allow us to expand our programming in the Southeast to help these entrepreneurs compete for funding.”
XLH will create, offer and run a new training program during this award cycle and select up to 10 participants for each cohort. The goal of this program is to get participants ready for XLerateHealth’s more robust SBIR/STTR one-on-one coaching program whereby participants submit an SBIR/STTR proposal at the end of the program. The first cohort of the new program is expected to launch in spring 2022.
KCV, formed last year, brings together the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville with the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp. (KSTC) and KY Innovation, the state’s office for entrepreneurial and small business support.
"This national competition sought to find the best initiatives that expand access and participation in innovation," said Terry Samuel, KSTC president, in a statement. "KSTC's portfolio of STEM, small business and innovation programs does just that, and we are grateful to the SBA for recognizing our impact through KCV."
“Kentucky Commercialization Ventures is spreading the message that ideas from Kentucky will change and improve lives," added Monique Quarterman, executive director of KCV. "It matters to us that we are empowering all of Kentucky's higher education centers to meaningfully access, contribute to and benefit in American innovation."
