First-hand lessons with the Small Business Innovation Research program.

By Dave Alburty

With a lot of grant writing experience from a previous life at MRIGlobal, Andy Page and I thought that we could make a go of it working with Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding to develop and commercialize our dream products: biological particle concentrators, which capture and concentrate dilute air and water “samples” from relatively large sample volumes into much smaller volumes of fluid that are suitable for lab-on-a-chip type rapid biological identification devices.

On our first SBIR attempt, however, we were rebuffed and given several reasons why our technology could not work (this despite the fact that it does work, and we included backing data in the application). We could not decide whether the reason we failed was because we didn’t have Ph.D’s, as all of our reviewers did, or whether they just wanted us to “pay our dues.” (While it may be easier to win an SBIR grant if you have Ph.Ds on your team, it isn’t necessary.)

Not too long after, we were trying to resubmit a similar proposal to the USDA to use our technology to concentrate E. coli for better detection, and got shut out because we waited too long to start trying to submit the application through www.grants.gov.

Eventually, we landed our first SBIR grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). There are several lessons you can learn from our experiences when working on your first SBIR proposal.

Lesson #1: Know the Process and Timeline
Study the submission process carefully, and plan to submit at least a day or two ahead of time. You will find yourself fighting with the system to get it to accept your application. The submission portals are complicated and there are hidden tricks and traps. Sometimes, fields that are not shown as “required” are, indeed, required. Naming of your proposal has to be less than 25 letters, no matter what fits in the field.  It will be truncated if it’s more than 25 letters.

Go to at least one SBIR conference of some kind before you start your first proposal. In Kansas City, the Small Business Development Technology Center (SBTDC) is a great resource. You’ll need to register ahead of time for www.grants.gov and probably also with eRA commons, the submission portal and submission processor sites. Very few SBIR proposals are as easy to submit as sending an e-mail, so check it all out in advance.

Just because you “win” a grant, doesn’t mean the check is in the mail. At one point, we received notification that we had “won” a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Phase I proposal for concentrating E.coli in apple juice and vegetable wash water. It was a worthy application with good commercial opportunity. It all seemed good, but further down in the letter it said “pending availability of funds.” We sweated it for over a month, before the funds eventually came through.

Lesson # 2: Listen to Advice but Make Your Own Technical Decisions
At the end of our first SBIR project, to concentrate Cryptosporidium in drinking water for detection using a rapid biological method, we had concentrated crypto-sized test particles by over 860,000 times but had not shown that we could concentrate crypto itself. Rather than apply for a Phase II, we were advised that our problem was too difficult for an EPA Phase II. We were told to apply to National Science Foundation (NSF), as their SBIR programs are better funded.

Lesson #3: All SBIRs Are Not Created Equal
Look around at available and suitable programs, and try to match the level of effort to the agency and need that are the best fits, both technically and with regard to difficulty and scope of work.
Our next SBIR success was with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Our technology is well-suited to making biological detectors work better, faster and cheaper. This is a win-win situation. Look for those mutual benefits in your own application scenario. The granting agencies really do want to provide funds to develop technologies that actually work, provide great advantages and have commercialization potential.

The follow-on has been great for us with regard to DHS. We were eventually successful in Phase I, were invited to submit a Phase II proposal and won. DHS provides an option as part of Phase I that continues some funding during the time between the end of the Phase I and beginning of Phase II, which we are using to keep the project moving while we complete the Phase II contract details.

During this phase, we also applied to National Institutes of Health (NIH). Although NIH is by far the biggest granting agency, they were—at least for us—the hardest to work with. In NIH’s case, I do believe you will have a hard time winning a development grant without Ph.D. or M.D. credentials. This is somewhat interesting, as most people at product development companies don’t have Ph.D’s. We have been shot down every time we applied to NIH.

Lesson #4: The Phase II Proposal is a Big Deal
It takes a lot of time and talent to write it a Phase II proposal. Our chief technology officer spent more than a month working on almost nothing else, to get our proposal turned in on time. So, plan to invest the necessary time.

Lesson #5: Don’t Give Up
SBIR funding isn’t “easy” money. It takes focus, patience, a good proposal and strong technology to win a grant. Keep applying, keep pushing on and with some luck, you’ll get an opportunity to develop your technology through the SBIR programs.

Now, we are working on all of the due diligence and follow up negotiations needed to implement the DHS Phase II SBIR, working like crazy on the FDA SBIR, and considering what to do regarding Cryptosporidium. All ideas sprout new applications and opportunities, if you can follow up creativity with innovation.

We are looking forward to the opportunities provided through the SBIR Phase II, including help with commercialization. SBIRs are not the only programs out there for technology development. There are also many Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) that have room for technology development within them. Sometimes, BAAs give some extra points for large scale integrators to work with small businesses. All of these opportunities are listed on Fedbizopps.gov.