Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has pre-released its list of 2010 SBIR Topics. There are 42 research topics that include subjects like Cryocoolers, RFID-Integrated Sensors, Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes, 3-D Imaging Ssensors, and Barrier Fabrics for Fire Safety.
Full Solicitation will be released on November 2nd, but a list of 42 intended topics is available now. Proposals will be due on January 22nd and Phase I Awards will have a maximum value of $90,000.
Today, the Department of Transportation released its FY10 SBIR Program Solicitation. Proposals will be due by November 16th with a budget not exceeding $100,000. Details and proposal instructions can be found in the solicitation. Topics fall within the following areas:
- FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
- FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION
- FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION
- FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION
- NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
- PIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION
SBIR and STTR awards are sometimes described as “free government money”. People hear this and immediately start lining up with their hands out. Not so fast. Just because the money doesn’t have to be repaid (like a loan), it doesn’t mean that it is automatically given to every person who wants it. Before you too jump in line with your hand out, make sure you qualify—no need to spend a lot of time, only to find out down the road that you are ineligible.
First, SBIR and STTR awards are for businesses—not individuals. Even then, they are not appropriate for every business. The awards are intended for serious, risky research with a high potential for commercial success—meaning, customers will actually pay you money for your innovative, end-product. Obtaining an award is a competitive process—make sure you CAN submit before you spend time preparing a proposal. So what are these qualifications? Well, here is a list of the minimum qualifications—specific agencies might have additional qualifications or expectations:
- Business is set up For-Profit
- No more than 500 employees in the business (including all affiliated entities)
- Satisfy ownership issues of the business:
- Business must at least 51% owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are U.S. Citizens or U.S. Permanent Resident Aliens
OR
- Business must be at least 51% owned and controlled by another small business that satisfies the above “a” requirement
- Business and proposed research location must be in the U.S.
- The Principal Investigator (PI) must be credentialed (education and experience) in the area of research that the business is proposing—must demonstrate on paper that he/she can lead a formal research study
- The PI must be employed fulltime (usually at least 51%) by the company (NOTE: sometimes for STTR, the PI can be employed by the company OR the partnering Research Institute)
- The proposed research must address a specified agency topic or area of research interest outlined by the soliciting agency—unsolicited proposals are NOT accepted.
Those are the minimum qualifications. If you DO qualify and you DO have an innovative idea that can realistically advance the mission of an agency, then submitting a proposal might be appropriate for your company. Talk to one of the ATDC Startup Catalysts specializing in SBIR (Connie Ruffner, Julie Collins, or John Mills) for more details.
ATDC spends innumerable hours every week coaching entrepreneurs on their investment pitches. We see many entrepreneurs with good intentions make common mistakes and help them avoid common pitfalls as they prepare to present their companies in the best possible light. A great opportunity to observe fellow entrepreneurs in action is next Tuesday May 19th at MIT Forum of Atlanta’s Run it By the Pros workshop.
At Run it By the Pros four new companies will present their business plans to a panel of experts. The Venue : Law Offices of Carlton Fields, One Atlantic Center, 1201 West Peachtree Street, 49th Floor, Atlanta, GA, 30309; Time: 3:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. You can register here (members only but TAG members are eligible and can attend at the MIT Forum Member $25 rate). Clarification: You must be a member of the MIT Enterprise Forum to attend.
ATDC graduate entrepreneur Patrick Taylor of Oversight Systems will serve as the experienced entrepreneur on the panel along with VC’s Mark Johnson of Total Technology Ventures, Linnea Geiss of Arcapita, and Lawrence Gold from Carlton Field.
In addition to attending Run it By the Pros many an entrepreneur will find our articles on Telling a Compelling Story and Top VC Questions valuable resources when prepping to pitch their own deal.
The level of excitement at the ATDC was high this week with news of member company SoloHealth's recent funding and expansion plans. SoloHealth makes EyeSite™ vision testing and new patient generating kiosks that you can find in stores like Walgreens and Kroger. In the press release, SoloHealth announced that it will be teaming up with Transitions Optical, Inc. and other leading eye care companies to deploy a large number of the EyeSite kiosks in a major US market this summer. This recent investment, which includes funding from various private investors, gives SoloHealth and its partners the opportunity to grow and expand the innovative EyeSite concept.
A quote from the recent press release:
“SoloHealth, combined with these optical industry leaders, is helping to create new ways to drive additional traffic to eye doctors,” said Bart Foster, CEO and founder of SoloHealth. “Results have shown that of the people who have used the EyeSite kiosk, over 25 percent have never visited an eye care professional and 49 percent reported family history of eye disease. Many of those have gone on to book appointments with a local eye doctor. EyeSite self-service vision testing kiosks educate people about the health benefits of seeing an eye doctor on a regular basis.”
SoloHealth has had great experience with the kiosks in Atlanta and has screened over 100,000 people since late 2007. The nearest location to ATDC is in the "Fresh Fare" Kroger in Buckhead. Check it out!
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Thursday, January 8, 2009
7:30 to 9am
Technology Square Research Building
85 5th Street, NW
Atlanta, GA
Map
Register
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On January 8th at the monthly TAG/ATDC Entrepreneurs Society meeting the GRA/TAG 2009 Business Launch Competition will officially kickoff. The winner of the competition will receive a $100,000 cash award courtesy of the GRA and a diverse array of services valued at an additional $200,000! This year the competition is focusing on Internet technologies. This includes companies that are developing products, online services, or backend technologies that are using or extending the reach, flexibility and ease of the internet. There is a particular interest in companies within the fields of digital media/technology, cleantech, mobility and securities. If you have a start-up business that fits in one of this areas and would like to get your hands on the prize you are going to want to attend this session.
Come hear from past winners, ReachCall, IVOX and
Acculynk, as the CEOs from each of these
companies tell us of their progress since they won. Then I am going to moderate a session to provide some insight into what it takes to make it to the finals. Details regarding the 2009
competition will also be provided.
Register now!
TechJournal South had a great article a few weeks ago about raising money in the current economy. Bill Warner, managing partner at business consulting firm, Paladin and Associates, reminds entrepreneurs that having discipline and focus is a top priority at all times, not only in tough economic times. Investors are calling for a conservation of cash, rethinking the revenue plan, justifying capital purchases and a positive cash flow. These greater efficiencies are a good target for successful business, investments and exits. Mr. Warner ends the article with an encouraging word to keep going, redouble efforts and make a positive return quickly.
Entrepreneurs at all stages can benefit from these reminders.
If you have not seen the news from The Atlanta Business Chronicle or TechJournal South, 2080 Media (aka PlayOn Sports) has raised $3 million in a round led by Imlay Investments with Noro-Mosely Partners participating. What you may not have heard is that ATDC Entrepreneur in Residence MIke Eckert is going to be joining PlayOn's board along with Greg Foster of NMP. What I know that you have not heard is that the company joined ATDC last week.
PlayOn is a digital media company providing an end-to-end solution for the production, management, and distribution of professional quality TV-like live events over the Internet at a fraction of the cost of traditional television. Led by David Rudolph, the company is technology and asset spin out from Turner Broadcasting. More then four years has been spent testing and perfecting the PlayOn platform.
PlayOn's initial market focus will be on sports content. The company has seen demand from organizations such as universities, high schools, and leagues to generate media exposure for their sports and programs. Aside from the direct financial benefit the exposure provides, it also has a positive effect on recruiting, alumni cultivation, and general awareness. Media entities have also desire the exclusive sports content that PlayOn enables them to create and distribute.
PlayOn is shooting for the big space between user generated content at YouTube quality and what you see on ESPN every day. Should be an exciting to watch the game unfold.
A few weeks ago, I teased that strategic fundraising is investor-centric, milestone-driven, realistic, targeted, anticipatory, and market facing. So let's start with the first attribute and discuss what it means to be investor-centric.
In my experience, investor-centric fundraising is a capital marketing effort focused on the needs of investors. This sounds simple, but in practice it is quite difficult. Why? Often entrepreneurs don't view their equity as a product nor their investors as customers.
The first step in implementing investor-centric fundraising is to identify who will invest in your company and why. You have probably heard about the various "types" of investors ranging from friends and family members to institutional venture capitalists to banks and public investors. Generally speaking, each type of investor has a common set of attributes that provides clues on how you should market your investment opportunity. For example, friends and family members are usually not sensitive to valuation or dilution; however, these issues are very critical for venture capitalists and sophisticated angel investors. With that said, be careful and use these generalities with care. In the "real world" you will find many exceptions to these general stereotypes. Don't be surprised if you find an angel investor demanding sophisticated deal terms, or a venture capitalist driven by both financial and non-financial considerations. While you can initially group investors based upon a high-level classification, remember, there is no such thing as a "typical" investor and your job as a fundraiser is to understand the specific attributes of the specific investor that you are targeting.
One of the most important attributes to identify is an investor's motivation for investing in your company. You will rarely find an investor that shares your passion for you company's technology, products, or the market that you serve. In most cases, an investor is not motivated by the innate qualities of your company but rather, they are motivated by what an investment in your company enables. For example, some angel investors are motivated to make a difference in their local communities, most institutional investors are motivated to provide a financial return on someone else's money, and many corporate investors are primarily motivated by strategic benefits that an investment can generate. While each investor's motivation is different, every investor is motivated by something. The key is to identify that "something" for the specific investor that you are targeting and to market your opportunity accordingly. In those situations, when you discover that your opportunity is not consistent with an investor's motivation, don't waste your time trying to convince an investor of the merits of your opportunity, but rather spend your time finding another investor.
Another critical step is to understand your investor's approach/strategy to investing. Do they prefer to invest alone or with others? Are they willing to invest in an opportunity with technology risk? Are they looking for gargantuan billion dollar markets or are they comfortable with highly profitable market niches? You can find answers to these questions by perusing an investor's website and, more importantly, by networking with other entrepreneurs and connected professional services firms to receive insights on not only what an investor says, but what they actually do!
Entrepreneurs that are investor-centric clearly differentiate themselves from their peers. Such an approach saves critical time by focusing only on investors that are truly a fit for your company and ultimately positions you to negotiate an investment that is a "win" for both your company and your new investors.
For more information on choosing an investor:
Inc. Magazine
Venture Choice
Last month, a new west coast venture capital fund that is focused on i-Phone applications, was profiled in the national press and revealed a surprising statistic. Since its inception earlier in 2008, this fund has reviewed 2500 deals and made investments in only four companies. That’s right – the fund has invested at a rate of one investment per 625 deals reviewed. While few details are available on the 2500 deals reviewed, I would hypothesize that more than half of these deals were DOA (Dead On Arrival) because they were just "thrown over the transom" and/or poorly positioned from the start. Clearly, securing a proper referral into an investor is critical. However, even if you cut the above ratio in half, the odds against attracting venture capital remain significant. To improve these odds, I often encourage entrepreneurs to approach fundraising similar to how they approach going to market: strategically.
From my experience, a strategic fundraising campaign is composed of several key attributes. Strategic fundraising is investor-centric, milestone-driven, realistic, targeted, anticipatory, and market facing. Over the next few weeks, I will blog on each of these attributes. In the meantime, check out a fundraising strategy template in our library that we use with our clients to organize their fundraising activities.