KU Researchers Get an Assist to Bring Technologies to Market

KANSAS CITY, Kan., May 1, 2019 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — SHARPhub (sharpideahub.com), an initiative piloting at the University of Kansas, has selected its first cohort of nine companies that will receive one-on-one help preparing proposals for research funding through the federal SBIR/STTR programs.

The SHARPhub (Sustainable Heartland Accelerator Regional Partnership) was made possible by an NIH STTR grant awarded to the University of Kansas ( https://www.ku.edu/ ) and BBC Entrepreneurial Training & Consulting ( BBCetc, https://bbcetc.com/ ) with the goal of enhancing the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Central U.S. region. Following the pilot in Kansas, the program will collaborate with university leadership in Oklahoma, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota to provide infrastructure and expertise, educational tools and business development microgrants to promote commercialization of academic research and to build an entrepreneurial culture.

A significant part of SHARPhub’s focus will be on assisting startups with development of competitive grant applications for the federal SBIR and STTR programs. These two programs award over $2.7B in non-dilutive funding each year to encourage small technology-based businesses to explore innovative ideas and profit from their commercialization.

In addition to proposal development training and coaching, the Kansas cohort will be eligible to receive micro-grants to support customer discovery efforts, business startup costs, assistance with market analysis and commercialization planning, mentorship guidance and other practical resources.

The nine selected companies and a brief description of their technologies follows:

• Behavioral Technologies Consulting Organization – OASIS-S, distance-based supervision program to ensure quality experiences leading to competent behavior analysts
• De Novo Genomics – A technology to directly identify RNA modifications using third generation nanopore sequencing
• Vesarex LLC – Ultrasound-assisted laser blood-clot buster
• Ronawk LLC – Biological building blocks with patient stem cells to deliver personalized regenerative medicine
• Fennik Life Sciences – TheraKan™, a miniature device that models flow of blood and cells to tissues to improve pre-clinical drugs or drug target testing
• ICSCOM – A geo-location Allergy App/Meter that trigger/tracks pollen counts like tree and grass pollen, ragweed and mold spores.
• Digital NanoGenetics – An automated, portable, single molecule sequencing technology
• Leap! – A physician-referred, evidence-based, lifestyle program to improve brain health and reduce the risk for Alzheimer’s Disease
• BenoTech Pharmaceutics LLC– A novel peptide-based technology for prostate cancer treatment.

For more information about SHARPhub visit: https://www.sharpideahub.com/.

News Source: SHARPhub