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January 07, 2019 | Tom Ballard

Launch Tennessee announces 12 recipients of SBIR/STTR matching grants

Launch Tennessee announced yesterday that 12 companies have been selected as the latest recipients of funds under the “Tennessee Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Matching Fund Grant Program.” The initiative was championed by Life Science Tennessee and Launch Tennessee, developed by the latter, and funded through the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development’s annual contract with Launch Tennessee.

The program was launched as a competitive tool to keep tech-based companies in Tennessee. Many of the surrounding states operate similar matching grants and have actually attracted some Volunteer State start-ups to relocate.

Since its launch in 2017, the program has awarded matching grants to 24 companies, of which eight are led by women, veterans and minorities. They received funds totaling $3 million dollars. That funding has leveraged more than $14.8 million federal dollars into those Tennessee businesses. The program also facilitated the creation of 44 full-time positions and the purchase of crucial equipment for overall market expansion of tech-enabled small businesses.

“As Tennesseans, we should be proud that so many promising businesses were awarded SBIR/STTR grants through a highly competitive process,” said Margaret Dolan, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaunchTN. “We are pleased to offer this grant-matching program in Tennessee, which increases the amount of funding entrepreneurs are awarded, and positions them for greater success as they commercialize their products.”

The latest recipients are: Coulometrics, Chattanooga; E & G Associates, Chattanooga; Frontier Diagnostics, Nashville; Grow Bioplastics DBA Mobius, Lenoir City; Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories, Tullahoma; HealthChart, Memphis; Immuno Technologies, Inc., also of Memphis; Pre Tel Inc., Chattanooga; Robotic Technologies of Tennessee, Cookeville; VenoStent, Nashville; PurSolutions, Nashville; and VoluMetrix, Nashville.

Companies receiving matching funds are required to be based in Tennessee for at least the next 24 months and commit to semi-annual reporting to LaunchTN and the State of Tennessee. To learn more, or apply for a future SBIR match funding program, click here.


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