CSIT awards more than $1M in grants to small businesses

37 early-stage companies get awards during Round 3 of program aimed at helping innovation research and technology transfer

By
ROI-NJ Staff
-

Thirty-seven early-stage companies have been awarded a total of more than $1 million in funding by the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology.

The grants are part of Round 3 of the Direct Financial Assistance component of the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Program. To date, the CSIT has awarded a total of $1.9 million to 66 Garden State companies during the program’s three funding rounds.

Each of these early-stage companies is currently engaged in the federal SBIR and/or STTR programs. The awards will fortify the state’s innovation economy by giving these New Jersey-based businesses the strength and resources they need to be competitive when participating in federal programs.

The federal SBIR and STTR grant programs provide more than $3 billion each year to small businesses in a variety of technology and life sciences areas that propose innovative ideas that meet specific federal research & development needs.

This third round of the program awarded $1,075,000 in grants to 37 New Jersey small businesses in two program components:

  1. Direct funding: Awarded $25,000 grants totaling $775,000 to 31 small businesses that have received a federal SBIR/STTR Phase I, Fast-Track or Direct to Phase II award/contract. The grants are intended to help awardees increase intensity of research, strengthen commercialization plans, cover operational expenses and become more competitive for Phase II funding.
  2. Bridge funding: Awarded $50,000 grants totaling $300,000 to six New Jersey small businesses that have successfully completed Phase I and have applied for Phase II of the federal SBIR/STTR program.

“Thanks to the resources from the CSIT SBIR/STTR Direct Financial Assistance Program, New Jersey is taking bold steps to achieve Gov. (Phil) Murphy’s goal of building the most competitive innovation ecosystem in the country,” CSIT Chairman Gunjan Doshi said.

CSIT Executive Director Judith Sheft noted that the number of awardees tripled from the 12 awardees in Round 1 to 37 in Round 3. Furthermore, 11 of the 37 companies have affiliations with four New Jersey research universities through license agreements for innovative technologies.

“This program is helping to accelerate the growth of innovation-focused companies in New Jersey, and we are thrilled to see small businesses take advantage of these critical resources,” Sheft said. “During this latest round of funding, participating companies were able to leverage the SBIR grant to over $18 million in additional federal funding.”

The awardees’ focus areas fell into the following categories, all of which were identified in Murphy’s economic development strategic plan as high-wage, high growth sectors: technology, life sciences, clean energy and advanced manufacturing.

Here’s who got what:

$25,000 grants

  1. 1Huddle Inc. (Newark, Essex County)
  2. AG350 Inc. (Princeton, Mercer County)
  3. BioTillion LLC (Skillman, Somerset County)
  4. Blue Rock Solutions Inc. (Williamstown, Gloucester County)
  5. Celestron Technologies LLC (Moorestown, Burlington County)
  6. CloudJuncxion Inc. (Bridgewater, Somerset County)
  7. Culnexin Therapeutics (Princeton Junction, Mercer County)
  8. Dandelion Science Corp. (Hoboken, Hudson County)
  9. Fabricated Software Inc. (Cedar Grove, Essex County)
  10. Generation Biotech (Princeton, Mercer County)
  11. HiT Nano Inc (Bordentown, Burlington County)
  12. Impact Business Information Solutions Inc. (Princeton, Mercer County)
  13. InnoSepra LLC (Middlesex, Middlesex County)
  14. Kathera Bioscience Inc. (Union, Union County)
  15. Knowledge To Own Inc. (Springfield, Union County)
  16. Manhattan BioSolutions LLC (Fort Lee, Bergen County)
  17. Marine Electric Systems Inc. (South Hackensack, Bergen County)
  18. Mindprint Learning LLC (Princeton, Mercer County)
  19. Misram LLC (Holmdel, Monmouth County)
  20. NanoSepex Inc. (Newark, Essex County)
  21. NeuroTechR3 Inc. (Warren, Somerset County)
  22. One World Design and Manufacturing Group (Warren, Somerset County)
  23. Palindrome Technologies (Hazlet, Monmouth County)
  24. Phoresis Inc. (Princeton, Mercer County)
  25. RadioSight LLC (Hoboken, Hudson County)
  26. Regenosine Inc. (Jersey City, Hudson County)
  27. Simphotek Inc. (Newark, Essex County)
  28. Speckodyne Corp. (Hamilton, Mercer County)
  29. StemPlant LLC (Camden, Camden County)
  30. TEAM of Care Solutions LLC (Fort Lee, Bergen County)
  31. Tendo Technologies (Princeton, Mercer County)

$50,000 grants

  1. BANC3 (Princeton, Mercer County)
  2. Cell Podium LLC (Newark, Essex County)
  3. Fuceltech Inc. DBA Princeton Innotech (West Windsor, Mercer County)
  4. Princeton NuEnergy (Bordentown, Burlington County)
  5. SubUAS LLC (Hillsborough, Somerset County)
  6. Venarum Medical LLC (Eatontown, Monmouth County)

In February 2021, the CSIT awarded $450,000 in matching grants to 16 New Jersey small businesses that were engaged in the federal SBIR/STTR program.