|
|
 |
 24 Small Tech Companies Win One NC Matching Grants
Twenty-four innovative small companies across North Carolina will get grants to develop new products, hire more employees, and purchase needed materials, Governor Roy Cooper announced April 25. A total of $1.1 million from the
One North Carolina Small Business Program
will go to the selected technology-oriented businesses in 14 communities across the state.
The One NC Small Business Program, one of the first of its kind in the nation, provides state grants to match federal funds awarded through the highly competitive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, which help small companies develop new and innovative technologies that have high potential for commercialization.
Since 2006, the One North Carolina Small Business Program has helped more than 270 companies in 45 cities across North Carolina develop and bring to market hundreds of high-tech products. North Carolina is among a handful of innovative states that have chosen to bolster their economy this way. A 2017 evaluation of the program's results found it has created or supported more than 900 high paying jobs, attracted more than $500 million in external investment, and generated $125 million in total commercial sales directly from the technology developed with the program's funding. "SBTDC clients have benefited significantly from this program. Over the life of state match program, more than 75% of the recipients are clients of the SBTDC."
The Office of Science, Technology, & Innovation, a division of the North Carolina Department of Commerce, administers the program on behalf of the Board.
Profiles of each of the 24 companies and details about their grants is available online.
SBIR Awardees Take Part in Summer Graduate Commercialization Consulting Program
2019 marks the 18th anniversary of this organized summer internship program under the direction of John Ujvari, SBIR Program Specialist.
Twelve graduate student interns from across the state are working with over 24 small businesses, many of which are SBIR/STTR awardees. Projects include primary market research, financial analysis, commercialization plan development, market assessments, competitive analysis and more. Participating schools included NC State, UNC-CH, Duke, Western Carolina and UNC-Charlotte.
In these 18 years, 165 students have participated with over 300 clients for a total of 65,000 hours of service. This is the equivalent of 32 full-time employment years.
Interact with government SBIR/STTR program managers and staff, industry leaders and veteran SBIR/STTR awardees to learn how to access SBIR/STTR, build partnerships, and create successful commercialization strategies. Opportunities include Roundtable discussions, 1-on-1 meetings, and Conference sessions. SBIR Conference attendees receive online access to 1-1 SBIR Meeting Site.
SBIR/STTR Solicitation Dates
|
|
|
Understanding Equity Funding Norms
Well defined market opportunities, innovative solutions, and great management teams are well defined characteristics of companies that are successful at raising equity capital. When interacting with these companies one quickly realizes that these companies understand the equity funding game including investor expectations and norms.
For private investments to happen, investors expect companies to understand and operate under a set of norms that fall within a "normal curve" that creates a perception of decreased investment risk. Whether it is the stage of development, level of market traction, expected valuation, return on investment, or any number of other factors, it is wise for entrepreneurs to understand the norms for raising capital in their industry and geography. Once these norms are understood it also allows the entrepreneur to better prepare to explain deviations from what investors are accustomed to. Of course, there are always outliers and exceptions, but in general the majority of companies that are funded fall into a pattern of normal behaviors and have features that investors understand.
If the company doesn't have a good feel for these norms there may be at a disadvantage when compared to companies that do. This is where a great set of business advisors or board of directors can be worth their weight in gold. Seek advice from people you trust that have been through the process of raising capital and growing companies. Also, talk to your potential investors. Ask the question, "What would it take for you to invest"?
For additional information and to understand these norms in the world of equity funding, the SBTDC offers' crash course on how to "Becoming and Investor Ready Entrepreneur" on July 11th in RTP at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. For more information and to register click
here.
Becoming an Investor Ready Entrepreneur
Date: July 11
Location: RTP, NC
The SBTDC's "Becoming an Investor-Ready Entrepreneur" course will be held on July 11th in RTP at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.
Many small businesses need to raise money from investors at some point in their lives. Are you and your business prepared to take this leap?
Join investors and companies that have successfully raised capital for a full day of discussion.
LEARN ABOUT:
- Investor expectations and norms
- The equity funding landscape and the key players
- How to position your company for a successful raise
- How investors approach valuation and structure deals
INVESTOR PANELISTS:
- Eva Doss, The Launch Place
- Kip Johnson, Morningstar Law Group
- Ed Pettiss, RTP Capital Associates
- Bill Warner, IMAF-RTP
KEY NOTE SPEAKER:
- Joy Parr Drach, Advanced Animal Diagnostics, Inc. President & CEO. Joy has raised over $40M to develop and commercialize AAD's diagnostic platform products.
REGISTRATION:
- Early-bird price of $95 until June 24th
- Seating is limited - registration required to reserve a spot
- Breakfast, lunch, workbook, and all materials included
- Register online here
|
|
|
|
Capital Opportunities for Small Businesses
The SBTDC's
Capital Opportunities for Small Businesses
provides information about financial resources available to small businesses in North Carolina. The SBTDC publishes this in an effort to support the growth of North Carolina's economy and to educate and serve the small business community.
Capital Opportunities
serves as a resource for individuals seeking start-up financing, businesses hunting for expansion capital, and organizations that aid small businesses in obtaining financing. Each funding source is briefly identified and accompanied by a list of contacts. This free guide also describes recent developments that may affect the availability of funding or the eligibility of small businesses to access capital.
Chapters include:
- CHAPTER 1: Introduction
- CHAPTER 2: Overview of Financing Sources
- CHAPTER 3: Financial Institutions
- CHAPTER 4: Federal Government Sources
- CHAPTER 5: State Government Sources
- CHAPTER 6: Equity Capital Sources
- CHAPTER 7: Private, Not-for-Profit and Local Programs
- CHAPTER 8: Financial Assistance Services
Download Capital Opportunities >>
Supporting the Growth of NC's
Innovative Small Businesses for 35 Years
The North Carolina SBTDC's Technology Development and Commercialization Team has a 35-year history of providing assistance to businesses that are developing and commercializing technological innovations. The Team provides strategic and tactical advice to pre-venture entities, university start-ups and small to mid-size businesses to support their formation and growth. We have a long and successful history of working with entrepreneurs to educate, identify and access strategic resources necessary to support the inception and growth of their technology-based businesses.
Since 2001, the SBTDC has been the primary resource for providing confidential, no-cost assistance to ventures seeking early stage R&D funding through the Federal SBIR/STTR programs. The SBTDC Tech Team's goal is to take a holistic view of our clients' businesses and equip them with tools for building a successful venture. Our highly qualified team members counsel clients on various sources of non-dilutive and dilutive funding and conduct workshops on all aspects concerning the growth of technology-based businesses.
The SBTDC does not directly write and submit SBIR/STTR grants for clients. Instead, we guide our clients through the proposal development process, educate them about content, review financials, suggest additional team members, strategize about partnership opportunities and coach on communication with agency program managers. If our clients look for someone to write an SBIR/STTR proposal, we then refer them to quality for-fee services and consider ourselves to be a value-added partner to each of these proposal development consultant.
Leveraging our connectivity with North Carolina's robust university system, the Team has administered a program that matches MBA and other graduate program students with early- and mid-stage client companies for the past 18 years. Most participating companies have received a Phase I SBIR/STTR and are in need of additional assistance with the development of their Phase II grant. Services provided through the program include non-technical tasks like market research, customer validation, financial modeling and marketing strategy development.
In 2018, the Technology Commercialization Team provided over 8,000 hours of business counseling services to over 400 client companies that generated $30M of financial impact. 86% of all North Carolina SBIR/STTR awardees in 2018 attributed their business successes, in part, to the counseling services of the Team. Additionally, the Team has worked with over 75% of the companies that received the state's One NC Match Fund, further emphasizing our intentions to cross-leverage North Carolina's resources.
Our statewide representation lends itself to individualized and targeted business counseling to tech companies, which puts us into a unique position to serve all 100 counties of the State of NC.
|
|
MORE SBTDC TARGETED SERVICES
|
SELLING TO THE GOVERNMENT
The North Carolina Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) educates business associates on how to obtain contracts by providing comprehensive assistance in selling products and services to local, state and federal government agencies.
|
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
The SBTDC's International Business Development Specialists assists small and mid-sized businesses with export planning and exporting.
|
|
The Team
The Technology Commercialization Services team provides one-on-one business counseling and advice
to: small business owners, university researchers, and entrepreneurs looking to advance their innovations to the marketplace.
|
|
Director, Technology Development
and Commercialization
|
|
SBIR/STTR Specialist & Newsletter Editor
Statewide
|
|
Technology Commercialization Counselor
Eastern NC
|
|
Technology Commercialization Counselor
North Central NC
|
|
Technology Commercialization Counselor
Western NC
|
|
|
|
|
