Patrick Lee is an engineer with over 15 years of experience in the food and pharmaceutical industry. For the last seven years, he has been involved with several startup businesses in both the software and biodevice industries. He has also taught business school as an Adjunct Faculty member. Patrick received his BS from Cornell University majoring in Chemical Engineering and his MS in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University. He also received his MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in New Jersey and California.
Each year, the U.S. Government grants over $2.5 Billion to small businesses through its various programs. One particular program that is worth exploring by scientists and engineers who is starting a business or is considering the entrepreneurship option is the SBIR program. Entrepreneurship is difficult, but this is one of the ways the Government is willing to help.
SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) is a government grant program aimed specifically at the small businesses. And hi-tech startups are particularly encouraged to apply because of the way the program is structured to support projects that are technology-based. The “technology-based” advantage is often overlooked by the high-tech entrepreneurs, who traditionally have only looked towards venture capital or angels as the sole source of financing. The SBIR program is more than just financing. It is also a way of introducing the company to the government agencies as a sponsor and best of all, as a customer. There are more benefits even if you eventually seek VC financing.
This presentation will examine the basic prerequisites of the SBIR and STTR programs. Then we will explore some of the insights of the program to let you decide whether or not you should take advantage of them. There are 11 different sponsoring agencies in the U.S., each of which has its own set of rules and regulations. While there are rules, there are actually many more unwritten rules as well as exceptions to the rules. These insights into how the program works make SBIR and its sister program, the STTR, enormously valuable to the biotech entrepreneurs.
