Great Opportunities for Small Businesses
NSBRI seeks to support a company’s on-going efforts and existing strategy while facilitating the pursuit of expanded market opportunities via projects that address both space exploration demands and terrestrial market applications. NSBRI works with successful candidates to develop a project plan that is aligned with both the terrestrial and space applications of the product.
One recent example is Equinox, whose Balance Goggles™ may help patients on Earth manage glaucoma and enable astronauts to retain visual acuity while in space. The SMARTCAP grant funded safety studies and the development of advanced prototypes, enabling Equinox to achieve two significant milestones on the commercialization pathway.
We recognize that small companies must maintain focus on their primary goals and NSBRI seeks projects that advance those goals while also benefiting the space program. All intellectual property rights remain with the company.
The Annidis RHA™, a multispectral ophthalmoscope with multi-image software processing from 2015 SMARTCAP grantee Annidis Corporation can be miniaturized for spaceflight.
Matching Funding Requirement
NSBRI seeks to double the impact of its SMARTCAP grant by requiring each grantee to obtain a 100% match of the award amount from a non-federal source. This takes advantage of the fact that investment is often easier to obtain with evidence of a commitment for non-dilutive funding. The goal is to advance the project and thus the company more rapidly than would be possible solely from SMARTCAP funding. Both the company and NSBRI will benefit. Matching funding may be cash, in-kind support or a combination thereof.
Getting Started
While there is no active call for SMARTCAP at this time, NSBRI continues to seek out and evaluate novel solutions in the following areas:
• Diagnostic and therapeutic devices for vision and cerebral health
• Non-invasive surgical approaches
• Behavioral health solutions
• Ionizing radiation countermeasures
• Ionizing radiation biodosimetry technologies
• Point of care diagnostics for multiple conditions using various bio-fluids
• Miniaturized imaging capabilities
• Smart medical algorithms
If your company has a technology / product that could prove useful in any of these areas, please contact Dr. Dorit Donoviel, NSBRI’s Deputy Chief Scientist and Industry Forum Lead, at smartcap@nsbri.org.
When a call for applications is issued, interested companies should first check eligibility and then follow the application process by submitting an application that includes a one – two page description of the company, its product / technology and the proposed project per instructions on the application itself.
NSBRI Deputy Chief Scientist and Industry Forum Lead Dorit B. Donoviel, Ph.D. with SMARTCAP Co-Administrator Martha Fleming, M.B.A (Left to Right)
History
The NSBRI Industry Forum was established by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), a NASA-funded non-profit research organization, to accelerate the development of products to enhance health care in space and on Earth.
In 2011, the NSBRI Industry Forum launched a funding opportunity called the Space Medical and Related Technologies Commercialization Assistance Program (SMARTCAP) for small U.S. companies. To date, fourteen companies have received grants, benefiting from the non-dilutive funding as well as advances made through projects that align Space and Earth applications and the collaborative opportunities offered through NSBRI’s Integrated Research Program.
