Celebrating an incredible year for emerging technologies in Kentucky.
As 2022 comes to a close, we want to take the time to look back at some of the year's highlights and celebrate the incredible wins we saw from our partners.
2022 Highlights
We ran four agency-specific SBIR/STTR accelerators, including the launch of the USDA Accelerator in fall 2022.
Through accelerators, webinars and one-on-one consultations we supported the submission of 40 proposals to six federal agencies winning seven federal awards in fiscal year 2022.
We awarded $117,858 to reduce barriers to SBIR/STTR funding through our microAward program.
In fall 2022 we were selected for second-year funding as Kentucky's only recipient of the SBA FAST award.
Client Wins
Miller Diversified Health Partnerships, microAward Recipient
"Moving from another state to Kentucky was one of the hardest things that our business has ever done...
Thankfully, we were welcomed by the Kentucky startup community and introduced to Kentucky Science & Technology Corporation (KSTC) and Kentucky Science & Engineering Foundation (KSEF). Receiving the KSEF SBIR $5,000 microAward and ongoing support from KSTC programs has enhanced our ability to make progress and provided a backboard for a smooth transition to entrepreneurship in Kentucky.
The KSEF SBIR microAward has truly removed barriers to our startup’s prototype research and design activities. We successfully submitted an SBIR Grant to the NIMHD with the NHLBI sponsoring our application efforts through the ECG NIH application assistance program initiated by our contact with KSEF."
- Dr. Bernard V. Miller III, Founder/CEO of Miller Diversified Health Partnerships, LLC
RalphVR / VRTogether, NIH Submission and microAward Recipient
"RalphVR has been awarded two microAwards from KSEF in 2022. Our first award enabled us to run a preliminary data study on the usability of our virtual reality platform VRTogether at Ashland Terrace Old Ladies Home in Lexington, Kentucky.
The microAward enabled us to contract Dr. Amanda Glueck and Prof. Dmitry Strakovsky at the University of Kentucky. The data we collected demonstrated our virtual reality platform VRTogether was easy to use by older adults (20 points over "above average" in the System Usabillity Survey), which significantly improved the competitiveness of our NIH Phase I SBIR application we submitted in August 2022.
Additionally, the pilot study results have significantly strengthened our Phase II NSF application. Our second microAward has enabled us to work with veteran SBIR grant consultant Jim Greenwood in preparation for our NSF Phase II application. Our Phase II, the follow up to our successful Phase I award, is worth 1 million in non-dilutive funds.
These two microAwards have been very valuable for RalphVR as we compete at the national level of government funding through SBIR awards."
- Richard Hoagland, Founder/CEO of RalphVR / VRTogether
Channel Portal, NSF Submission and microAward Recipient
"We are grateful to have been selected for a Kentucky SBIR/STTR microAward.
The award allowed us the financial resources to engage with researchers that are well-known subject matter experts in the technical domain of our SBIR project proposal submitted to the National Science Foundation (NSF). We engaged with those resources to be part of our proposal review team and their feedback and suggestions greatly improved the quality of our proposal.
We highly recommend the Kentucky SBIR/STTR microAward to anybody in Kentucky that is engaged in the SBIR/STTR process."
- Beth Martinelli, Co-Founder/CEO of Channel Portal
BlackBox Energy Systems, NASA Ignite SBIR Submission and Accelerator Participant
"KSEF found excellent SBIR grant opportunities for our technology, connected us with an accelerator program and a grant writer for much stronger proposals, and cheered for our success.
Writing grants with the KSEF accelerator helped us to find customers for our technology sooner. The staff at KSEF was proactive in reaching out to us to accelerate our success.
We are sincerely grateful for the help and encouragement."
- Amy Wombwell, Co-Founder/COO of BlackBox Energy Systems