Eleven small businesses in Wisconsin, including two from Milwaukee, will receive a total of up to $900,000 to commercialize their innovations as part of the state’s SBIR Advance program, according to a Tuesday news release.
Milwaukee-based Rapid Radicals Technology, a wastewater treatment firm that developed a system to prevent sewer overflows during storms and also won the 2022 Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest last week, and Ubitrix International, a company that created a framework to analyze mobile health care applications for security weaknesses, were among the recipients.
The program matches grants to companies that are completing a project in the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
Rapid Radicals is receiving up to $100,000 in a phase two matching grant and Ubitrix is receiving up to $75,000 in a phase one matching grant.
This is the 19th round of SBIR Advance program funding since the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. (WEDC) collaborated with the University of Wisconsin System’s Center for Technology Commercialization (CTC) in 2014 as part of an initiative to address business startup and seed-funding challenges in Wisconsin.
In addition to money, grant recipients gain access to business consulting and other training from CTC staff to use during the commercialization process.
Other phase one recipients that will each receive a matching grant of up to $75,000 include:
- Cell Reprogramming & Therapeutics LLC (Wauwatosa): This company is working to develop and commercialize cell-based technologies to target diseases of the central nervous system. Its programs aim to create cellular models and therapeutics for neurological disorders like stroke, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
- ChloBis Water Inc. (Madison): Also a finalist in the advanced manufacturing category of the 2022 Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest, this company developed a desalination battery that removes salt from water sources while simultaneously using the compounds to recharge its battery.
- COnovate (Shorewood): COnovate is developing sustainable, higher-performing carbon materials to add battery capacity and charging speed to lithium ion batteries. The company also received an up to $100,000 phase two grant through the same program in 2021.
- Igneous IP Holdings LLC (Wales): This startup that came out of MIT in 2016 aims to create lighter and less expensive 3D printed parts by using foamed materials.
- Neurosetta LLC (Madison): This company uses their technology to create custom models of the human brain and spinal cord for neurotoxicity screening of chemicals and genetic mutations.
Other phase two recipients that will each receive a matching grant of up to $100,000 include:
- AIQ Solutions Inc. (Madison): AIQ created a software technology platform that generates quantitative intelligence. The platform helps to better understand the treatment response for complex diseases.
- GoDx (Madison): This company is developing a rapid and low-cost test for the bugs that cause diarrheal disease, the second leading cause of death in children under age five globally.
- IF LLC (Stoughton): This company develops and manufactures medical ultrasound instrumentation used to diagnose and monitor osteoporosis. It is developing a device to perform a non-invasive chemical analysis of bone.
- PhylloTech Inc. (Middleton): PhylloTech developed a simpler way to produce cytokines by engineering tobacco plants to manufacture, purify and deliver target proteins directly to leaf surfaces of living plants. This method is designed to create more economical harvests.
Over the past eight years, recipient businesses reported obtaining $62.7 million in follow-on funding after receiving SBIR Advanced matching grants, according to the release.
