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Workshop Description

Now that you’ve completed an I-Corps course and conducted 20-30 customer discovery interviews, what’s next in your customer discovery and commercialization journey? Non-dilutive SBIR/STTR funding may be a consideration. The government’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs make over $4 billion in high-risk, non-dilutive capital available to innovative small companies annually, but you have to propose a clearly defined R&D project that helps de-risk your technology in preparation for commercialization.

This virtual SBIR Webinar will provide an overview of the SBIR/STTR programs and how you can leverage your knowledge gained from customer discovery to build a compelling SBIR/STTR proposal. In this interactive workshop, we’ll learn how to use data from customer discovery to come up with 1-3 clearly defined Technical Objectives related to product development for a Phase I application. The SBIR Webinar will also go over how to use data from market research and customer discovery to determine your quantitative metrics for success.

About the Presenter: Megan Varnum, Ph.D.

Megan joined BBC Entrepreneurial Training & Consulting as a Principal Consultant in 2019 with a wealth of experience in leading biological technologies on the path to commercialization. As CEO of FibrosIX Inc., a Michigan company developing compounds for the treatment or prevention of fibrosis-related disorders, Megan was involved in all aspects of planning and operation of the company. This included writing an SBIR grant proposal, which was awarded from the National Cancer Institute. Her prior experience includes serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence for Michigan State University’s Spartan Innovations where she assisted MSU researchers in translating their technologies into startup businesses. While at MSU, she managed the launch of two startups and assisted in preparation of both NIH and NSF SBIR proposals. A former Research Associate of the Scripps Research Institute, Megan received a B.S degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a PhD from Boston University.

BBCetc is nationally recognized for its success in helping emerging companies win SBIR/STTR funding and use it strategically to propel growth. BBCetc’s Michigan clients have been awarded over $406 million in funding since 2002. The company was recently named a 2020 Tibbetts award winner as well as one of 50 “Michigan companies to watch” by Michigan Celebrates Small Business.

www.bbcetc.com