Federal Funding Spotlight on Programs Supporting Business & Commerce

This week’s Federal Funding Spotlight focuses on programs and initiatives that are designed, in part, to promote business and commerce, including…

• A program that encourages the translation of technologies for 🧠 brain or behavioral research from academic and other non-small business research sectors to the marketplace;
• A program that 🤝 assists individuals or entities in the startup, expansion or operational improvement of rural cooperatives and other business entities;
• A program that assists 🧀 dairy businesses in the development, production, marketing and distribution of dairy products;
• And more!

Lab to Marketplace: Tools for Brain and Behavioral Research (R43/R44 – Clinical Trial Optional)

• Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health
• Current Closing Date for Applications: January 5, 2021
• This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) encourages the translation of technologies for brain or behavioral research from academic and other non-small business research sectors to the marketplace. The program seeks Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant applications that propose to further develop, make more robust, and make more user-friendly such technologies in preparation for commercial dissemination.

Applicant Resource: NIH Online Course ‘Entrepreneurial Finance for Biomedical Innovators’

“Can I get funding for my business?”

The short answer to this question is usually no, as we have explained in previous posts.

But there are cases where federal grants can be awarded to small businesses. One such case is with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

“These programs allow US-owned and operated small businesses to engage in federal research and development that has a strong potential for commercialization,” explains NIH on the programs’ website. “In Fiscal Year 2018, NIH’s SBIR and STTR programs will invest over 1 billion dollars into health and life science companies that are creating innovative technologies that align with NIH’s mission to improve health and save lives.”