May 15, 2024
If you are commercializing academic technology, you’re likely already familiar with the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant programs. (If you’re not, a wealth of information awaits you here.) What you may not know, however, is that there is additional funding available alongside your award that you can elect to use on services to develop your business – not just your technology.
Most funding agencies that participate in the SBIR/STTR program now offer Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) funding supplemental to your grant’s Research and Development budget. TABA funds can be used to pay third party vendors for services like market research, go-to-market strategy development, and commercialization support, which are essential for early stage startups who may not otherwise have the resources to secure these services.
Here’s a handy guide from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) outlining what services TABA can cover:
Source: National Institutes of Health Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) Funding
Although the easiest way to access Technical and Business Assistance funds is to include your TABA plans in the budget of your initial application for funding, if you missed that opportunity, you may be able to capture it retroactively if your award is active. The availability of this option varies by funding agency so be sure to verify specifics with your own funding agency. Since we frequently work with small businesses to get the most impact from their TABA budget, we maintain a quick reference chart that comes in handy in our early discussions with founders:
If you're looking for a TABA vendor or want to learn more about how to access TABA funds, we’d love to chat!
Render is uniquely qualified to provide these services from the perspective of a venture capital investor. Please reach out to me here for a free-of-charge initial conversation to see if Render might be the right choice for commercialization support for your business.
