The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Technology administers the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. Through these two competitive programs, SBA ensures that the nation’s small, high-tech, innovative businesses are a significant part of the federal government’s research and development efforts. Eleven federal departments participate in the SBIR program; five departments participate in the STTR program awarding $2billion to small high-tech businesses.

For more information, head over to the SBIR.gov site.

BioEnterprise, in conjunction with TechLift, is offering a two-part training workshop on this important source of federal funds. 

SBIR/STTR Training Workshop

Offered in Partnership with TechLift

Part One: Informational Workshop
Wednesday September 24, 2008
1 to 4 p.m.

Offered in Partnership with TechLift

Workshop on the basics of the SBIR/STTR programs geared to those interested in learning more about the program’s scope, technology interests, eligibility, & funding sources. This session will help you decide whether you can and should compete for the over $2 Billion in SBIR and STTR Funding in 2008.

Location:
JumpStart, Inc.
737 Bolivar Road
Main Conference Room

Click here to register

Questions:
Contact Dee Montgomery at 216.658.3973

Part Two: Intensive Grant Preparation Workshop + One-on-One Consulting
October 15 & 16, 2008
9 to 4 p.m.

Two-day, intensive workshop covering all aspects of writing winning SBIR/STTR proposals, focused on health care technologies and companies. This program is geared for those individuals that are serious about submitting a proposal and includes 5 hours of one-on-one consulting.

Location:
BioEnterprise
11000 Cedar Ave.
Main Conference Room

Cost: $250

Click here to register

Questions:
Contact Dee Montgomery at 216.658.3973

The best advice we can give is to work through an entity that is plugged into the investment community.  NEOinc is one, and there are others throughout our region.  For entrepreneurs not in Northeast Ohio, do some research to find economic development entities or business incubators and work through them. 

If you cannot find local or regional partners that can provide an introduction for you to potential funders, then this article on how to approach a VC you don’t know gives some very practical do’s and dont’s on the topic. 

We urge you to read the entire article, but here are the basics.

Do

• Research the VC, his/her firm and their investments
• Reach out to the VC in a way that makes it easy for a VC to respond to your approach
• Be specific in your approach about why you’re approaching that VC and what you’d like to accomplish
• Provide the VC with enough information during the initial approach to allow him to qualify that you and your opportunity are interesting
• Recognize that successful fundraising is usually a series of small steps rather than one large step
• Follow through when you make your outreach and be gently persistent

Don’t

• Try to make idle chitchat as a prelude to your “ask”
• Name drop, try to create a false sense of urgency, or raise a lot of hype unless you can back it up

Recently, the ARCHAngel network sent out a very big announcement.

“We wanted to share with you some exciting news…………..  Thanks to our growing alliance with the Lorain County Community College (LCCC) and the hard work of the team lead by Tracy Green, we are happy to report that we have formed the Innovation Alliance Fund to provide very early stage technology and business gap funding.

The Innovation Alliance Fund has just received a Third Frontier Pre Seed Grant from the Ohio Department of Development of $500,000 which will be matched by an additional $500,000 from LCCC and UARF.  Our alliance with LCCC will both increase deal flow and provide access to very early stage preseed funding for our ARCHAngel companies.  A reminder that none of this goes to salaries and overhead but is all directed to where it will do the most good - the entrepreneur.

The ARCHAngels were also highlighted in today’s Akron Beacon Journal Business Section, with some very kind words from Exacter’s CEO John Luletta. Thanks to all of you who continue to provide their unique skills and resources to high potential companies like Exacter.   See these two articles by Paula Schleis in today’s Akron Beacon Journal: Investors network making impact and $7.5 million will provide startup help.

We appreciate all of the ARCHAngel efforts which have brought us to this next step on our ARCHAngel growth curve.  We will have lots to discuss on Wednesday September 10th and hope that you can join us for our quarterly meeting.”

Are you an Entrepreneur with an innovative business that needs the right resources and financing, or an Investor looking for a well developed ideas to invest in that will grow and provide you a competitive return in 3-5 years?  If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, and don’t know about the Akron ARCHAngels, then head over to their website, do your homework and contact them as appropriate.  Barry and Gordon are making great things happen in Akron - don’t miss out!

BIOSTART is pleased to host this year’s Mid America Healthcare Venture Conference. The Midwest Health Investors Network and IBF Conferences are now conducting this conference to highlight promising Midwest venture opportunities. This conference was previously offered annually by BIO. 

We are recruiting for companies seeking Series A and B financing as business plan presenters.  

Information and application for presenting companies - seeking Series A or B is available at:

http://www.midamericahealthcareforum.com/docs/Application.pdf

The application deadline is August 15, 2008. 

We are also seeking “up and coming” companies that would present in a pre-conference session on September 30, 2008 from 3-5 pm.

Companies may submit a 1-2 page executive summary and power point slide presentation by August 31, 2008 for consideration. Companies may use their existing executive summaries or the attached outline may be used. We ask that the power point presentation follow this outline.  “Up and coming” summaries may be submitted to Carol Frankenstein at cfranken@biostart.org.

BIOSTART is a world-class life science start-up center with two distinguishing focus areas … catalyst and community. For over a decade this dual focused approach has benefited our clients, the region and state by transforming technology into products that are advanced to market by sustainable businesses. We build life science companies that create jobs, products that improve health and qualify of life and wealth for the community.

Briefly, if you are a small- or medium-sized business involved in sensor technology for inspecting, monitoring and evaluating critical components of the nation’s roadways, bridges, and drinking and waste water systems, you should read the rest of this post.

Thanks again to Dorothy B. and NorTech for pulling this information together and getting the word out.

In March, the Greater Cleveland Partnership and NorTech hosted a City Club discussion by Marc Stanely, Director of the Technology Innovation Program (TIP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Many of you will recall that Northeast Ohio was the first stop on Mr. Stanley’s tour to discuss the federal government’s new program to support innovation. 

As a follow up to the March meeting, I wanted to let you know the Technology Innovation Program (TIP) announced its first call for proposals yesterday. Complete details are pasted below. You may also visit the TIP website at http://www.nist.gov/tip/

I’m not certain how many of you have technologies or business interests that are aligned, but wanted to be certain you all had a chance to take a look and determine whether or not you could apply. Good luck!

The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced today that it is seeking proposals for high-risk research projects to develop innovative technologies for inspecting, monitoring and evaluating critical components of the nation’s roadways, bridges, and drinking and wastewater systems. The competition for cost-shared research and development (R&D) support is the first to be announced by NIST’s newly established Technology Innovation Program (TIP) in an effort to address critical societal challenges.

NIST announced that, based on FY2008 funds, it expects to award approximately $9 million in first-year funding for R&D projects focused on new, efficient, accurate, low-cost and reliable sensors and related technologies that provide quantitative assessments of the structural integrity or degree of deterioration of bridges, roads, water mains and wastewater collection systems. The competition, program managers said, addresses a critical national need for improved sensing technologies to help local, state and national authorities more cost-effectively monitor and maintain the Nation’s vast public infrastructure, some portions of which have been in place for many years and are rapidly and dangerously aging.

“As a society we stand atop what most authorities believe is an increasingly shaky platform of aging transportation and public utility systems, including roadways, bridges, and water and wastewater pipelines,” said TIP Director Marc Stanley. “It’s estimated, for example, that nationwide we lose about 15 percent of our treated drinking water to leaky pipelines, and a major bridge collapse in Minneapolis last year that took 13 lives is a sobering reminder that infrastructure failures can cost far more than just money. With this first TIP competition we hope to foster significant technology innovations to assist our Nation’s engineers in monitoring and maintaining these critical systems.”

TIP was established by the 2007 America COMPETES Act to support, promote and accelerate innovation in the United States through high-risk, high-reward research in areas of critical national need.

The merit-based competitive program can fund cost-shared R&D projects by single small-sized or medium-sized businesses or by joint ventures. Small-sized and medium-sized businesses, institutions of higher education, non-profit research organizations, and national laboratories are eligible for TIP support, with some restrictions on the size of companies, ownership and the types of research that are eligible. TIP awards are limited to no more than $3 million total over three years for a single company project and no more than $9 million total over five years for a joint venture.

Proposals for the current TIP competition must be received by NIST by 3 p.m. EDT, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008. Proposers may submit proposals by paper or electronically through the Grants.gov Web site. Review, selection, and award processing is expected to be completed by the end of November 2008.

Additional information on the TIP competition includes:

* The Federal Register notice of the competition, which is available from the TIP Web site at http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html

* Announcement of Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) posted on Grants.gov, which also is available from the TIP Web site at http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html

* The TIP White Paper “Advanced Sensing Technologies for the Infrastructure: Roads, Highways, Bridges and Water Systems,” which outlines the civil infrastructure inspection and monitoring elements of this competition, available from the TIP Web site at http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html

* The June 2008 Technology Innovation Program Proposal Preparation Kit, which must be used to prepare a TIP proposal, available from the TIP Web site at http://www.nist.gov/tip/helpful.html

TIP is holding public meetings (Proposers’ Conferences) at several locations around the country to provide general information regarding TIP, guidance on preparing proposals, and the opportunity for questions and answers. These conferences are being held at the following dates, times, and locations:

* July 16, 2008, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. CDT: St. Louis Airport Marriott, 10700 Pear Tree Lane, St. Louis, Mo. (314-253-5121)

* July 16, 2008, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. CDT: Renaissance Houston, 6 Greenway Plaza, East Houston, Texas (713-850-2310)

* July 17, 2008, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. EDT: Holiday Inn Atlanta Airport North, 1380 Virginia Avenue, Atlanta, Ga. (404-838-0029)

* July 17, 2008, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. PDT: Holiday Inn Portland Airport, 8439 North East Columbia Boulevard, Portland, Ore. (503-914-5253)

* July 18, 2008, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. PDT: Doubletree San Jose, 2050 Gateway Place, San Jose, Calif. (408-437-2124)

* July 21, 2008, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. EDT: Boston Courtyard Downtown, 275 Tremont Street, Boston, Mass. (781-537-5594)

* July 22, 2008, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. EDT: NIST Red Auditorium, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Md. (301-975-8910)

Those wishing to attend the July 22 Proposers’ Conference at NIST’s Gaithersburg, Md. facility must pre-register by 5 p.m. Eastern Time on July 16, 2008, by going to the Web page http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/confpage/080722.htm. No on-site registrations will be accepted. Photo identification must be presented at the NIST main gate to be admitted to the July 22, 2008 conference. Same day registration will be allowed at the other locations.

No registration fee will be charged for any of the Proposers’ Conferences. Presentation materials from Proposers’ Conferences will be made available on the TIP Web site. 

Some of the programs that will be discussed include: Research and Commercialization, Wright Projects, Advanced Energy and Fuel Cells.    

The programmatic offerings should have appeal to a very diverse regional audience.  We hope you plan to attend the briefing to learn more about Third Frontier funding opportunities available in 2009. There is no cost to attend this meeting, though pre-registration is requested. Please RSVP to Olivia Robinson Bulls at orobinson-bulls@nortech.org by June 27^th.

Third Frontier Public Briefing: 2009 Funding Opportunities

Date:  July 1, 2008
Time:  8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast;  9:00 a.m. -10:30 a.m. Presentation and Q&A
Location:  Doubletree Hotel, 6200 Quarry Lane, Independence, OH 44131 Get Directions
RSVP:  Olivia Robinson Bulls at orobinson-bulls@nortech.org by June 27^th
Questions?:  Contact Kelly South at 216-241-8458

Sponsored by: NorTech

Then comes the “term sheet”. 

Per Wikipedia, a term sheet:

A term sheet is a bullet-point document outlining the material terms and conditions of a business agreement. After a Term Sheet has been “executed”, it guides legal counsel in the preparation of a proposed “final agreement”. It then guides, but is not necessarily binding, as the signatories negotiate, usually with legal counsel, the final terms of their agreement.

The problem for many entrepreneurs is the language contained in the term sheet.  Prepared by legal on behalf of the potential investors, most entrepreneurs will find themselves at a disadvantage at this stage.  Hopefully, by the time you are at this stage you have a legal advisor on your team or advisory board that can help you navigate the term sheet.

This is an extremely important step in the development of your start-up, and decisions made in your funding rounds can have long-lasting impacts on your venture.   Educating yourself on the key concepts and terms found in the documents that will be put in front of you can go a long way to making decisions you can live with down the road.

Crib Sheet: The Term Sheet Glossary is an excellent, well-written article outlining the ten key terms the author (an attorney to multiple company founders) is most often requested to explain.  If you are confused on your pre-money versus post-money valuation, or what a liquidation multiple is, then this article is a good place to start.  Be sure to scan the comments, the author shares a basic capitilization template you might find interesting.

If you’re looking for more detailed explanation on term sheet lingo, then check out the Term Sheet Series Wrap Up page on Feld Thoughts, a blog written by an early stage investor who is also an entrepreneur.

NEOinc hopes you find these resources useful.  We wouldn’t suggest these articles could ever replace expert counsel, but understanding and preparation on your part is recommended, should you get to this point.

Presenting awards to technology-based start up companies in Northeast Ohio
and announcing a generous contribution to the
Innovation Fund from First Place Bank!

 Wednesday, June 4, 2008
12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Entrepreneurship Innovation Center on the
campus of Lorain County Community College.
(Lunch will be provided.)

The Innovation Fund, administered by the Lorain County Community College Foundation, cordially invites you to a media announcement where the newest recipients of the Innovation Fund will be presented.  In addition to these awards, we will be celebrating a significant contribution towards the Innovation Fund from one of our newest partners.

Please RSVP by visiting www.lorainccc.edu/ifund. 

For directions, please visit:  www.lorainccc.edu/map. 

For questions or more information please contact the LCCC Foundation at 440-366-4039.

 Funding support provided by Ohio’s Third Frontier ESP Program
as well as our newest partner, First Place Bank! 

The four funds are Arboretum Ventures out of Ann Arbor, MI; Radius Ventures in New York; Charter Life Sciences in Cincinnati and Palo Alto, CA; and Fletcher Spaght Ventures in Boston.

Arboretum Ventures and Radius Ventures recently opened Cleveland offices because of the investment.  Fletcher Spaght opened a Columbus office.

If so, MAGNET has loan funding that helps entrepreneurs or small businesses bring their ideas to reality.

MAGNET administers the New Product Development and Entrepreneurship Program, Product Innovation Loan Fundon behalf of the Cuyahoga County Department of Development.  In the last three years, the fund has provided over $3 million for new product development in Northeast Ohio and additional funds are now available.

The process is competitive.  Applicants will have their submissions reviewed and approved by a committee consisting of local business leaders, venture capitalist, designers, entrepreneurs and representatives from Cuyahoga County.  Applications for the current funding round are being accepted with a submission deadline of NOON EDT on Friday, April 25, 2008.  Loans of up to $115,000 can be made in phased increments ranging from $15,000 to $60,000 depending upon how much development has already been completed and what remains to be done.

The loans have an interest rate of 3.5%.  There are no interest or principal payments for the first three years after disbursement.  Small companies of less than $50 million in sales as well as entrepreneurs can use this money to fund their product development process for such activities as market research, patent services, industrial design, engineering and prototyping efforts.

Full details of the program along with application forms are available at http://www.magnetwork.org/programs/cuyahoga-loan-fund.htm.

If you have further questions you can contact Barbara Paul by phone at 216-432-5322, or by email at barbara.paul@magnetwork.org