Seven innovative Kentucky companies — including one in NKY — will receive nearly $900,000 in state matching grants to support well-paying jobs and further grow the state’s tech industry, Gov. Andy Beshear announced. .
The $899,070 in grants are part of the Commonwealth’s Matching Funds program for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR). The funds will match in part $8.71 million in federal grants that the companies will collectively receive.
“Innovative businesses are growing at an impressive rate in Kentucky, and we need to make sure that continues by investing in the resources, people, and businesses that tackle the problems of tomorrow,” Governor Beshear said. “Our SBIR-STTR matching fund program offers Kentucky companies an incredible opportunity to turn their breakthrough ideas into cutting-edge products, while creating quality jobs in some of the highest paying fields in our country. To continue the economic momentum we are enjoying now, we need to invest in our future. Congratulations to this final round of winners. I am extremely excited to see your future success in the Commonwealth.
Monique Quarterman, Deputy Executive Director of KY Innovation’s Office of Small Business Entrepreneurship and Innovation, is encouraged by the SBIR-STTR program and what it can do for Commonwealth businesses.
“The federal SBIR/STTR grant program injects more than $3 billion a year into U.S.-based small businesses,” Quarterman said. “These are non-dilutive sources of capital that grow Kentucky businesses and enable them to produce higher wages and innovative solutions that save our nation and the world. KY Innovation is excited to help more Kentuckians discover and tap into this key, accessible resource in the US search profile.
The seven Kentucky companies that received matching funds are using technology to advance several areas, from environmentally friendly building methods to Alzheimer’s disease care. The beneficiary companies are:
Gen Nine Inc. (Covington)
Gen Nine is developing a new platform designed to support the independence and safety of older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders and other dementias of aging. The platform, Auracle, provides low-cost, easy-to-use, secure, and autonomous sensor tracking and cellular communication capabilities. These innovative developments, supported by advanced artificial intelligence hardware, have not been used before in this field. Gen Nine is located in the Covington RiverCenter.
3P Biotechnologies Inc. (Louisville)
The main technological development of 3P Biotechnologies is a method of using exosomes derived from cow’s milk to deliver drug treatments for inflammatory diseases. The company’s new technology development creates a cost-effective way to isolate clinical-grade exosomes from milk in large quantities, impacting both industry use and academic research.
Aviation Safety Resources Inc. (Nicholasville)
Aviation Safety Resources has developed the ASR eXtreme Rapid Deployment (XRD) system for electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and other Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) vehicles that can take off and land vertically without a runway. AAMs are not suitable for ejection seats, but the XRD system uses rescue technology and a series of innovations to create extremely rapid inflation of the parachute canopy during extraction, allowing occupants to survive and recover. get out of the vehicle after landing.
CreoSalus Inc. (Louisville)
Millions of Americans are affected by neurodegenerative and malignant diseases, as well as central nervous system damage. These injuries can be difficult to treat, as the administration of medication has been poor, ineffective and even toxic. Creo Salus has developed a Porous Brain Infusion Catheter (PBIC) for improved drug delivery, used for small to large doses and short to long term medical treatments.
Invictus Computing LLC (Louisville)
Invictus Informatics is developing a solution to manage farm animal genetic data that would provide a web-based data management system capable of storing, managing and analyzing data at a lower cost. This technology will allow small-scale farmers to produce, manage and use whole-genome genotypes for their animals, with the aim of improving traits and production efficiency.
ORB Technologies LLC (Lexington)
ORB Technologies is developing a panel construction system for passive and zero carbon buildings. The system is designed to simplify the process of constructing high performance building envelopes, reduce builder risk, reduce building ownership costs and has the potential to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide by storing it in building materials. construction. The system is comprised of rapidly renewable biomass crops that can be grown on marginal lands, including reclaimed surface mines. ORB Technologies plans to manufacture the building materials in Kentucky.
Pascal Tags Inc. (Louisville)
Pascal Tags continuously develops and optimizes the chipless inventory tag industry. Their unique technology uses a resonator to allow the creation of a magnetic field in the radio frequency wave environment. The tags are designed to be a way to achieve radio frequency identification functionality with a cost effective tag. Labels can be directly printed and embedded into a product, acting as a universal serial number for the life of a product.
The Kentucky SBIR/STTR program, overseen by KY Innovation within the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, provides essential non-dilutive capital to promising early-stage technology companies by matching some or all of the federal SBIR/STTR awards received by companies or Kentucky-based companies committed to relocating to the state.
To date, Kentucky SBIR/STTR-awarded companies have leveraged the state’s matching program to receive $8 in federal or private capital for every $1 in public funds. These companies have also created more than 700 well-paying jobs, 45% of which have annual salaries above $50,000. The match recipients hold 218 patents and have generated more than $42 million in sales and licensing revenue. Kentucky has awarded 302 matching awards to 140 unique companies since the program’s inception, leveraging $147.9 million in federal funding flowing into the state.
More information about Kentucky’s SBIR/STTR matching fund program and awarded companies can be found at kyinnovation.com/sbir.
