Building a Rainforest in the Desert | September 2024

Nob Hill Therapeutics, Inc. (NHT), an early-stage company developing innovative treatments for lung diseases, has secured $3 million in Series A funding led by Tramway Venture Partners, with participation from TCA Venture Group and VIC Technology Venture Development. This investment will advance NHT’s high-dose respiratory technologies and pre-investigational new drug studies. Chris Japp from Tramway Venture Partners will join NHT’s Board of Directors while Sima Ghafari from TCA Venture Group will serve as a Board Observer.

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Join the upcoming Rainforest Accelerator for the Fall 2024 cohort! In this program, teams of faculty and/or students, entrepreneurs, and mentors (mentors provided by the Rainforest Accelerator) receive up to $3,000 of funding to develop a business model and complete extensive market discovery for a disclosed UNM technology.

The outcomes you can expect through this program include:

• Exploring the transition of your technology to the marketplace.
• Determining the value proposition, customer, the size of the market, and market trends for your technology.
• Receive a dedicated mentor to provide one-on-one guidance.
• Conduct 25-100 discovery interviews and provide a formal presentation to investors at the end of the program to receive feedback on the commercialization opportunity of your technology.

The program will run on Mondays, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. from October 7 – November 25, 2024 online via Zoom meetings. The Final Presentations will be November 25, 2024, in-person at the Lobo Rainforest Building.

Deadline extended to September 30. Apply to join now!

The New Mexico Science & Technology (S&T) Business Startup Grant is a competitive state-funded grant that supports small businesses engaged in research and development (R&D) with the potential for commercializing their technology. The S&T Grant assists early-stage technology companies that are developing a unique product and have strong growth potential. Projects may be awarded between $25,000 and $50,000.

Eligible companies must be in one of the following industry sectors:

• Aerospace
• Biosciences
• Advanced Computing
• Intelligent Manufacturing
• Sustainable & Green Energy

These guidelines will be used to determine whether an applicant qualifies as high growth:

• Unique product or service
• Clear and compelling business proposition
• Scalable product and business model
• Capable team
• Exit potential, potential to create jobs in New Mexico, and/or private investment
• Economic benefit to the state

NM EDD OSST will host an informational webinar for FY25 submissions on September 10, 2024, at 1 pm MDT. Register to attend the webinar.

Submissions will open on September 3, 2024, and are due no later than 5 pm MDT on September 20, 2024. For more information email OSST Program Coordinator Michael Prossnitz at michael.prossnitz@edd.nm.gov.

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In August 2023, UNM Rainforest Innovations’ NM Tribal Entrepreneurship Enhancement Program (NMTEEP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NMEDD JEDI Office agreeing to work together to bring more justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion into New Mexico’s small business and startup ecosystem. This effort included the sharing of information collected by NMTEEP’s tribal liaisons regarding barriers and needs that exist for Native American entrepreneurs in New Mexico both on and off tribal land. This collaboration is starting to see the fruits of its labor, improving support to New Mexico’s underserved populations of small business owners and entrepreneurs.

In December 2023, in addition to the MOU, UNM Rainforest Innovations received $5K in funding from the NMEDD JEDI Office to administer technical assistance trainings in various tribal and Native American-serving communities.

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Dharish Totiger and business partner Mark Niederhaus Esteban, met while pursuing their MBA degrees at the University of New Mexico, have co-founded MealsGuru, an app designed to simplify meal planning and grocery shopping. MealsGuru aims to offer users personalized meal plan recommendations and budget management tools, with a focus on real-time price comparisons from grocery stores like Walmart and Kroger. Inspired by a discussion during a road trip, Mark and Dharish developed the idea to address the challenges of grocery price inflation and personal budgeting. They plan to launch MealsGuru’s flagship application later this year.

Before developing MealsGuru, Mark gained entrepreneurial experience with ventures like Upwell Beverages and Dharish honed his skills through work as an intern at UNM Rainforest Innovations and a prior small business in India. The duo’s collaboration began with success in participating in UNM’s Tech Navigator Challenge and Lobo Hackathon, which helped validate their concept and secure initial funding. With plans to release the app’s beta version soon and ongoing efforts to secure $1 million in pre-seed funding, MealsGuru is preparing to expand its features and impact.

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Meet with SCORE mentors at the Lobo Rainforest Building! Dar Johnson and Vik Berniklau will be available for one-on-one, confidential discussions and mentoring to inventors, students, and start-up companies.

SCORE mentors are successful business people and entrepreneurs who want to give back to the community by helping other entrepreneurs become and stay successful. SCORE has been helping small businesses start and grow in the Albuquerque area for over 50 years through mentoring and workshops and seminars. SCORE is the largest National resource partner of the Small Business Administration (SBA) with about 11,000 SCORE volunteers sharing their time and talents to help America's small businesses.

IN-PERSON at the Lobo Rainforest Building. Click "Sign up here" to select the time frame you plan to attend.

Meet the Mentors:

Dar Johnson has over 57 years in the aerospace private sector and with the Government, including over 38 years in senior and C-level management positions. He has been responsible for achieving growth nation-wide, obtaining new customers, cost containment, turning around marginal operations, increased profitability, customer satisfaction, staffing, and policy and procedure development. He also has worked in business development, proposal support, capture manager and proposal manager. He has owned a successful consulting business.

Areas of Expertise:

• Business Plan
• Government Regulations
• Management & Operations
• Marketing
• Product Development

Vic Berniklau is retired from the US Department of Energy as Senior Executive after filling positions in Technical and Administrative Leadership. Started two small businesses in electronic security with wife and son growing them to 30 employees ($2M sales) and turned them over to son who continues to grow them. Consultant in technology management and business management. Instructor at University of New Mexico at Graduate Level in Public Administration (Research Methodology) and Business Administration (Management of Technology).

Areas of Expertise:

• Accounting & Finance
• Business Plan
• Government Regulations
• Management & Operations
• Product Development
• Technology

Join this program to learn more about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can best be integrated in medical practice. The goal is to enhance participant's confidence in understanding and utilizing AI tools and applications in their respective health care settings.

Topics covered include:

• AI Models
• Ethics of AI
• AI and Patient Communication
• Role of AI and EMRs
• AI and Telemedicine