Fueling Innovation: America's Seed Fund and ESO Collaboration

You. My name is Eric Page Littleford and I am ecstatic to be able to moderate this discussion around America's Seed Fund and Entrepreneur Support Organization collaborations. You know, when we're thinking about today's session, one of the things we're going to do is we're really going to delve into some of these different approaches, how entrepreneurial support organizations are taking to really enhance and propel new innovations and create new small business growth. Many of them are leveraging America's seed fund, but that's not everyone's path. So we're going to have a broad discussion today. So before I introduce the panel, I guess I'll introduce myself a little bit more formally and talk a little bit about America Seed Fund. My name is Eric Page Littleford. I am the acting director and Program manager for America Seed Fund, which is comprised of the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. It's the largest source of non dilutive funding for our most innovative small companies. I am here with the Small Business Administration and what we're going to do is now I'll introduce our panelists, but before, before I do, we want this to be an engaging Q and A. So although I have a few questions prepared, I want you all to start entering your questions into the chat to make sure we're being responsive to your particular needs and interests. So to introduce our panel, let me start with Mary Larkin. So Mary is the program manager for Barda, the Accelerator Barda's Accelerator Network. Before joining Barda, she was the co founder and CEO of a biotechnology startup company developing bioengineered proteins to detect pathogens in a point of care diagnostic platform. As a founder, Mary participated in Accelerator program and knows firsthand their value to early stage innovators, particularly those who have extensive technical knowledge but little experience in growing a business. In her role with the Barda Accelerator Network, Mary applies her combined experience in research and entrepreneurship to support innovators and breakthrough technologies aligned to barter's mission to protect global public health. Mary, thank you so much for joining us. We also have two other panelists who are actually very close to me in our program because as a part of the entrepreneurial support organization, they support our FAST program. So I'm going to start with Josh. So Josh Nipple Catty is the Director of Innovation and Technology Program for the University of Nebraska at Omaha with their Nebraska Business Development Center. As a part of his work, Josh oversees our federal and state Technology Partnership program for the state of Nebraska. The goal of this program is to increase the number of SBIR STTR proposals, I will add successful proposals in the number of SBIR STTR awards to innovative small businesses and supporting their commercialization. Thanks for joining, Josh. And last but definitely not least, Amy Whitney. Dr. Amy Whitney is the Director of the University of North Dakota center for Innovation. She is focused on leading the UND center for Innovation to the next level by using her entrepreneurial and creative problem solving skills and background and town grown relationship building. She oversees a vibrant center supporting entrepreneurs, students and faculties in the Grand Forks and across North Dakota. So panelists, thank you all for joining again to the audience. Please feel free to start to enter your questions in we do want this to be a Q and A. So when we're thinking about fueling innovation through programs like America C Fund or through other initiatives and activities, we do have a shared focus in terms of getting new innovators a opportunity to sort of start, grow and expand their technology based businesses. So given your organization, I'm going to ask each panelist, I'll start with Mary, then we'll go Josh, then Amy to really one just talk a little bit more about your organization. But try to answer this question. What are you actually solving for through your programs and your initiatives? Mary, I'll start with you.

Thank you so much Eric and good afternoon everybody. So some of you, I'm guessing, might not have even heard of BARDA before or be aware of what we do as an organization. And our funding mechanisms are a little bit different from the SBIR STTR programs, but as a government group we do offer non dilutive funding. So I'd love to introduce the goal of our organization and then talk a little bit more about the particular program that I manage. So BARD is the Biomedical Advanced Research Development and Authority. We are part of Health and Human Services and support aspr, which is the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response. As that name suggests, that group is all about preparing for, responding to and recovering from public health emergencies and other types of disasters. We specifically support ASPR by leveraging public private partnerships, so partnering with companies like many of you in the audience to develop medical countermeasures, so things like vaccines, diagnostics, therapeutics and medical devices. And BARDA supports innovation from the very earliest stages through advanced research and developments and even FDA clearance. And sometimes we even purchase some of the products that we sponsor for the National Strategic Stockpile. So we have different divisions in BARDA that are devoted to kind of different categories of threats, maybe infectious diseases, seaburn threats, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, kind of the whole gamut of potential Threats. But my division is called drive, the Division of Research, Innovation and Ventures. And we focus on supporting the earliest stages of technology and, and entrepreneurship.

So.

With that kind of in context, to answer Eric's question, what problem are we trying to solve within the accelerator network? One of our big goals is de risking the business side of entrepreneurship. So lots of these government groups, we give out non dilutive funding. That's all about de risking the science, the technologies. But we also really need to de risk that business side of the commercialization process and that's the role of accelerators. So there are a lot of scientists, entrepreneurs who know a lot about their technology, but not so much about developing a business. So that's what the accelerators do. They impart that knowledge and teach those valuable lessons and help entrepreneurs bring products to market.

Wonderful. Thanks so much, Mary. Josh?

Yeah, it's a great question. It really had me thinking there. So the Nebraska Business Development center has you know, kind of various divisions. One is the Small Business Development Centers and then one kind of focuses on government contracting and then ours is funded from the Small Business Administration to really help with, help people navigate the SBIR submission process. And what are we solving for? I think is, I think essentially access. I. There are a lot of inventions, innovation, innovative ideas that are coming from the rural part of the state. I mean if you, or the rural part of the United States, I mean if you are operating a farm in kind of the. I'm not gonna, I'm gonna say the middle of nowhere because I can't think of anything better to say but that, that would anger my, my friends in the central part of Nebraska. And I'm sorry but if you know, you, you have to solve that problem yourself. And so there's a lot of inventiveness and things that are, that are, that are happening in, in the rural part of our country of specifically the state that I live in and they don't always know about the funding opportunities and things that are available at the, at the federal level and then even in Omaha and Lincoln. And so that was really the problem that I have, I think we've been pretty successful at solving is to really focus on maybe ag tech startups. And then there's been a lot of follow up, follow on like capital as well as, you know, success that has bred success. So once we kind of get this, you know, a successful core of clients, you know, within the robotic and ag tech space that are solving a very specific set of problems, you, you get these follow on technologies, you are, you're Recognizing people that can help you solve a problem that you also are trying to solve or, you know, could help you scale up your business and things after a certain point. And so that's really where I think that that's what we have really tried to solve for. And then the economic, the ecosystem partners have really followed, you know, have, have really worked with us in, in that. In the state of Nebraska. So Invest Nebraska then formed a group called the Combine, which is an accelerator specifically for ag tech. Now there's a venture, a venture fund that's specifically focused on agriculture, you know, funding early stage ag tech, Grit Road partners, I believe that then have, have also, you know, that has generated a lot of interest within our state and I think will only become kind of a virtuous circle. That was all really fueled, I would say, at least in its initial stages by the SBIR program and then specifically USDA sbir.

Wonderful. Josh, thanks so much. I appreciate you sort of lifting up the tech component and the fact that, hey, these innovators and opportunities are broad, including in our rural areas and how SBIR is sort of serving as a center to many of that broader ecosystem system development. So we definitely are going to revisit some of those aspects. Amy. Amy, what are you all solving for? Tell us a little bit about the UND and what you're solving for.

Yeah, so thank you, Eric. The UND center for Innovation is North Dakota's first and oldest entrepreneurial incubator. And I think similar to Josh, we operate in a pretty rural landscape here in North Dakota. And you know, really, I, I was smiling when Mary was talking because we actually hear a lot of our role and we're solving for is de risking technologies and really helping the entrepreneurs think through not just the expertise that they bring to the table with their technologies, but really helping them de risk the business opportunity. And what is that use case for this great innovation that they've brought to the table. And so a lot of our coaching models here, whether it's our Runway accelerator or we're working with partners such as Generator or our state economic development partners and our Small Business Development center partners, our innovation center is we are the go to resource for de risking those technologies and those use case applications and really helping those innovators think through what is the business model that's going to be the most effective and then connecting them to either community resources within our very wide entrepreneurial ecosystem that we have across the state, or is it that we're connecting you to the capital resources and that's the exciting piece for us, with America's Seed Fund and the SBIR and STTR opportunities. And being a fast center for North Dakota is we have the ability to have some pretty unique partnerships in some very specific industry sectors that are important to North Dakota. So, you know, we're solving for, you know, just like our, you know, Josh and the networks in Nebraska around agriculture, North Dakota is an agricultural state. We also do a lot in the energy sector here in North Dakota. We're solving for innovations in that space. We also do a lot with national security and autonomous solutions generally, especially in the aerospace and space domains as well. And then another really exciting opportunity for us here in North Dakota is we're really looking to solve for challenges in rural health and rural communities and how autonomous solutions can transform rural living and rural lifestyles. Because, you know, we have an opportunity here in North Dakota, here at und, where we have the medical school for the state and we have a lot of activity in senior population healthcare as well. So really spending some time working in those, you know, subject areas that are important to our economy and really promoting economic development, but also finding ways to celebrate and enhance the innovation that's happening with where we have a lot of talent in sectors that are important to the Northern Plains.

Wonderful, wonderful. So, you know, I think Mary and I, we have a little easier since we are federal employees, our agencies have a specific mission. Right. We don't have to worry about our market fit within the agencies. But Amy and Josh, I really do appreciate how you're sharing that when you're thinking about your ecosystem of those different program, it is focused on what that area brings. Right. What the capacity is within those particular areas. So building on that, I often learn from models or examples. Right. So can you all share either a highlight, an example of either an engagement model. Right. How do you. How you're identifying these members in your ecosystem, who you're supporting, or how you're demonstrating the growth or building of that ecosystem or a program or the initiative you're executing to sort of address that ecosystem. So I know you all do a lot of different things. I'm really giving you a platform here to sort of highlight one or two to really convey how you're actually doing the work. So I'm going to start with Josh, then we'll go Amy, then Mary.

Okay, So I have one example that is kind of a regional and it's not really a formalized partnership, but the Kauffman Foundation a couple years ago, their, their focus traditionally had been Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. The, the Mink corridor to fund innovation ecosystem projects in those four states. And so one of the areas of focus had was sbirs, how do we increase that number or the, you know, how do we increase the number of those within our region? And so that was a kind of a formalized group. And then one of the working groups, we all just kind of got along through the pandemic. We met, you know, every quarter or so. So my fast counterpart in Kansas and in Iowa, we would just talk routinely on a zoom call. We thought just because the initiatives over from Kaufman, maybe we just like, catch up because we have sometimes frustrations with clients, for example, that it feels like we can't. That people in the. The rest of our office don't necessarily understand that struggle in a way that, you know, we do, or, you know, there's a policy change with SBIR that no one else really understands or cares about. And we very deeply did. And so that has been an informal kind of information sharing network among people with, you know, kind of a regional interest and similar, you know, sometimes when it comes to setting goals or whatever, I'm sure at the national level, it looks like our goals are somewhat modest compared to some of our more populated states. And so then to kind of have a listening session among people that are also in, you know, Kansas or Missouri that say, you know, what a growth of, you know, six new submissions or whatever is actually pretty incredible given, you know, given the population density that we're working with or something. And so. So that has been really a very helpful kind of informal network that's been formalized a little bit as the SBIR road tour, for example, came through our region. We did a lot more kind of planning with each other so that we could, it felt like more of a cohesive week so that we could prepare people in a similar way. And then if someone from Omaha, for example, couldn't make it to the Lincoln event, they could go to Des Moines and still feel like, you know, there was a kind of a continuity of care or something that was all possible. So, I mean, it kind of started informal and it remains kind of a pretty informal monthly call. But there are times when we kind of collaborate on, on things that each of you know, that we specialize in. So Nebraska with Ag Tech is kind of, you know, has an area of. Of expertise or an emerging area of expertise. And then that's true with, you know, Oklahoma with Department of Defense and some things like that. And so then we've added Oklahoma since and that. So shout out to anyone from Oklahoma. It's near and dear to my heart now wasn't always. And so that's something that has been really a useful thing so that we can defer to their expertise. Aviation and things in Kansas is, is, is something that's, that's very helpful. And so we oftentimes maybe send clients down that way for specialized assistance that we wouldn't otherwise be able to offer. So that's one example within the state, I think a lot of it really, as we would apply for grants, that's a good opportunity for us to, to arrange listening sessions and you just kind of invite everybody and see who shows up. So I'm kind of notorious for just getting a zoom link in a calendar invite and then sending an email and see who accepts, who has the time and accepts it. And if it's two weeks out or more, you know, that's about how, how far out I'm booked. And so they probably don't have anything else on their calendar from you know, 1 to 2:30 on a Friday afternoon. And so, you know, give them a couple of pre reads like, like the RFA for the upcoming, for an upcoming proposal and then kind of talk out what has worked, what hasn't in kind of our, in our ecosystem, you know, where's the, where are the gaps and trying to identify those. So that has been really helpful. Then as I either go to renew fast from one year to the next to talk through what were the, you know, kind of the missed opportunities or where is our, where, where, where is our continuity of care again kind of falling apart. Where does that customer journey? Where is it not working? Who needs, you know, funding? Where if that's the problem, is it more of a customer issue? Things like that, what are the programs that we're offering and are those useful? Should we sunset certain programs and should we bring other ones on board? And so that's usually where we kind of have a kind of, whether it's zoom or in person kind of a listening session for an hour and a half and then kind of see what, what, who's actually willing to do something with those ideas in the follow up.

You know, Josh, I'm so glad you, you went in that direction. Right. Especially in terms of that ecosystem engagement, even regionally. You know, I think one of the reasons we've had this sort of third annual Innovation Ecosystem Summit is to sort of force that type of collaboration where often different organizations, they're doing their thing. But when you share ideas, bounce ideas, talk about different initiatives, look for areas to partner, just learn from each Other, it really does elevate all. So I'm glad you shared that, Josh. Thank you, Amy.

Yeah, Eric, thank you for that question. When we think about defining our ecosystem here in North Dakota, there's a few ways that we do that. You know, we've got, and I'll use an example around our autonomous industry sector and how that actually becomes an ecosystem that's greater and has multiple touch points across industry sectors. You know, we have some very unique opportunities here in North Dakota where we're, we have something called a Vantas network, which is building out to be a statewide beyond visual line of sight system where autonomous systems, uas, you know, uncrewed aerial systems, we have, you know, the opportunity to fly here in North Dakota in really rural state. We've got a lot of airspace where we can be flying. And really this region has become a national proving ground for autonomous technologies. And so we've got this tremendous set of resources here where you can use our region to test those technologies. And so what that's become for us is not just a North Dakota network of partners, both entrepreneurial serving organizations like my own, where we get to give you some of that business consulting around how do you really, truly become a sustainable, viable, feasible business, but how do you actually validate your technologies? What are some of the actual, you know, investment capital opportunities in this region, both in North Dakota, but even in multiple states right in the Northern Plains? Often, you know, we have the ability to have touch points across multiple states, similar to Josh, where, you know, we can connect you not only to using, you know, say our resources to get business consulting and validate your technology, but maybe there's use cases and partners in other states in this region of the country that you have the opportunity to connect with. So, you know, that's really important for us when we think about an ecosystem. I like to say here we, we have a culture of yes up here in North Dakota. And we really, truly want to welcome you to come and have those touch points. You know, whether we're working with our partners, you know, with 50 South Capitol, or we're working with our Department of Commerce. But even more exciting, I think, and this is one of our fast partnerships that's really unique for us that we've seen really be helpful, is also taking advantage of and we do a lot in that national security sector where our Air Force base here in Grand Forks has a national defense lab designation as an innovation cell. And so we have, and we host these monthly pitch events where companies want to come in and pitch their Technology for a use case with the Department of Defense and the Air Force can see a use for that. We can work to fast track an SBIR application to help you think through how you can get access to some of those non dilutive funds. And you know, it's been exciting to see our ability to increase our applications and the number of technologies we've been able to see in that space. And you know, we've recently had a startup where I think to Josh's point, one or two or six applications increase a year may not seem a lot to some of our larger states, but for a small state like ours, that's huge. Right? But one of our successful sbir, our applicants who was testing their solution with the base recently became our first, you know, our second series A, you know, invested startup here for us in North Dakota. And that's exciting for us. And I realize, you know, that may not feel exciting from a numbers perspective for larger states, but for a state like North Dakota, that's a cause for celebration when we get to be able to lift up a really amazing technology in a startup and see that success and see that a partnership where we work with the base and sbirs and our entire investment community and the village of all of the partners that brought, you know, that to the table have elevated and seen those successes. So, you know, it's really about working together and having that culture of, yes, wonderful.

That's such a great example. And I'll say this right, I think many people do appreciate the impact that, you know, these initial, first, second, early on investment or even the increase in the number of SBIRs where it may be a single digit. But I think people understand that, you know, innovation ecosystems have historically been on the coast. They've been concentrated in different areas. So I look at every state at an individual level. So I do appreciate what I'm learning here from both Nebraska and North Dakota. All right, Mary, do you have a initiative you'd like to share or example in terms of how you all are engaging through the accelerator network?

Definitely. We're big on building ecosystem programs at Barda as a way to reach companies that we would like to partner with and just being able to, you know, support the health security network in general. So I want to mention a few. I know we want to save some time for Q and A, Eric, so I'll try to just touch on the main points. But certainly since I, since I manage the Barda accelerator network, want to tell a little bit about what we do and how we engage with companies. So currently We've had a model where we partnered with 13 different accelerator programs around the country and we asked them to source companies in our mission space and support them with wraparound services, startup focused curriculum, mentorship on both the technical and the business side. And also we hope that they would be able to bring companies into our funded programs. One of the big ones is called the Easy baa. You could almost think of it kind of like the range of phase two sbir, but it's a different structure where we do milestone based awards and we do have a cost share component. But it's, it's a really exciting time for the accelerator network because we are greatly expanding the network over the past year, over the next year and launching five different hubs based on specific technology areas. So one for diagnostics and medical devices, one for therapeutics and vaccines, one for enabling technologies, one for digital health tools. And the fifth is for special populations which does include some low resource settings that we've kind of touched on during the session today. And we're asking them to provide those typical wraparound accelerator services, source and support companies. But we also have a new funded opportunity. So it's going to be kind of like mini grants that the hubs will be able to give out. So in the range of 50 to $200,000, kind of like that, similar to the phase one SBIR range to really help companies get to that next step in funded product developments. And then we're also looking for some rapid response capabilities because you know, we're the organization that addresses public health emergencies. So that's really exciting. I dropped some links into, into the chat if you want to learn more about the, the new accelerator network, but just to briefly touch on a couple of other ecosystem programs. So that's our, you know, our ecosystem of accelerators and all that they do. We also have an ecosystem of incubators through a partnership with, with Johnson and Johnson Innovations JLabs. And so we leverage their global ecosystem of innovation hubs that support startup companies with primarily incubator space. And that's called the Blue Night program. And then one more big ecosystem program that we have is Barda Ventures. And so this is actually our one dilutive funding mechanism at Barda and we do this through an investment partner. But what we're building here is an ecosystem of investors. So we've kind of talked about de risking technology, de risking business development. Here is where we are de risking investment in health security because it's not, it's not necessarily the most popular area of investment. Thanks.

Wow, wonderful Wonderful suite. I mean, you really are going across the entire spectrum. You're building the ecosystem of incubators, the ecosystem of accelerators, the investment arm, and now you're going to have the ability to do some of these mini grants for the entrepreneur. So I am so glad you're able to share those. Thank you so much. Mary. I think at this time what we're going to do is take a look at the chat to see if there are any questions from the attendees that we can address. Give me a second, I'll just sort of scroll through. You know, one question I saw earlier. Earlier was really around a company in terms of they're saying, hey, if I have a technology, but it has a very specific or unique use case, right? Yeah. So what if a company has developed a first of its kind technology? Funding is only offered for something, a specific purpose or discipline. So I guess I'll phrase it this way. Right. So I guess, Josh, Amy, you know, through your SaaS roles, you're obviously going to ultimately be engaging a lot with companies in terms of their different technologies, trying to figure out their opportunities for funding there. How would you approach someone who's coming to you saying, hey, I think this is a first of a kind, but I don't think there's an opportunity where this fits with funding from a particular agency. How would you just approach that? Amy, can we start with you?

Sure, yeah. You know, it's really. That's such a great question. So Scott. And really my first approach to that would be to do like we do with any of our innovators who come in from that de risking perspective. And we would work with you to do what we call some customer discovery activities where you think about what are some of those potential use cases for that first of its kind technology. And then we spend some time problem solving with you as to who might have a need that you could be solving with that technology. And while you're doing that, we would then also think about what would be a business model to get you to actually moving that technology forward as a business. And that's a lot of the conversations we have because it is not uncommon for us to be seeing some of those first of the kind technologies and doing something that might be a little outside the box. And really when you think about building a business, you have to understand how might this be applied in what ways and who might I be solving the problem for. And then from there, once you understand that, it's much easier to think about what funding opportunities and pathways are going to make the most sense for the technology and the commercialization of that technology. Because sometimes it might be hard capital, right, where you're actually doing venture investments. Sometimes an SBIR or those types of opportunities might be the best pathway. And then other times it might be that your customer for that first of a kind technology could be a licensing partner and another organization who would pay you in a different way from, you know, an alternative commercialization strategy. So a lot of that first of its kind work is really about spending some time up front doing some de risking and thinking about that use case and building a business model first before seeking the funding path. Because it's really important to understand who are you solving the problem for and who has the greatest need for that. And then the funding opportunity and pathway will become clear as you answer those questions.

Wow, wonderful response. Thank you so much. Very comprehensive. So actually I'm going to see if there's other questions because I really do think that covered the spectrum in terms of how you should think about that, those different ways you can try to identify where you'll land. So another question we have is what are some government funding for accelerators and funds working with underrepresented founders? So I guess, Mary, I guess I would ask you and then I will also follow up, but through Barda and when you're looking at sort of the suite, are there any particular elements focusing on underserved populations or is it really more so the tech and the mission space focus?

Yeah. And Eric, could I just do a very quick answer to the previous question because. Because I think that I'm so glad that was asked with as far as Barda too, because a lot of the times we are looking for broad platform technologies or agnostic technologies because it's not likely that a business is going to be is going to make it just on, you know, here's a product in case of a pand. So often they have a platform for addressing chronic disease or cancer and developing a product for us might be a second, third or fourth use case. But you know, we're really open to those broader technologies. Yeah. Underrepresented founders. So we did actually with one of our accelerators, we did sponsor a cohort that was generator just for underrepresented founders. So it's something that we're really aware of as an organization, something we'll definitely be thinking about as we build out this next expanded iteration of the accelerator network.

Good, good. I guess I'll add from a SBA perspective, one of the things we've been doing through our growth Accelerator fund competition, which is prize based, is really trying to incentivize awards and prizes to incubators, accelerators, those in this ESL with a focus on underserved as well. So that's another area I would encourage you to keep a lookout for because we really do want to grow the broader apparatus to make sure that these all, you know, innovators, accelerators and incubators are being supported. All right, see if there's any other questions. All right, I am not seeing any or there may be a delay. Okay, so here's one from Marcos. We're a digital cardiovascular health company with some great use cases, developed a business model and interested in sharing with the office to see if there's something that aligns. Well, how do we begin the journey? You know, so I think I'm going to ask this question actually of all the panelists because I think they all have a different role. Right. So Mary, I'll start with you in terms of whether it's through your, well, through the barter network, a entity like this, how will they start that journey to see if this is something that can solve one of your use cases.

Yeah, definitely. I'm so glad somebody asked that because, yeah, this should all be about how can you actually engage with our organizations. Right. Instead of us talking about how great we are, great our programs are. So definitely I dropped the links. Definitely the website is a good place to start so that you can look at the different priorities and programs and see where you might align. And when you do reach out to, you know, an info at whatever program that goes to a person who will often then pull together the right group of people for a market research call. So, you know, finding out where the alignment is, setting up a market research call. But always do that when we are really excited to talk to companies. So instead of you never want to just drop in an application without actually talking to the program first. And if you think that you might be too early stage for one of these programs, you can still talk with the managers and get an idea of exactly what they need to see before you might be eligible for a funding opportunity.

Wonderful, wonderful. Josh, I know this is not ag tech, but if a company was sort of similarly wondering how they would start a process if they already had a general sense of use cases, how would you all engage if they were in Nebraska?

Yeah. And I, I wanted to just reinforce what Mary just said about funding decisions are made by people, at least so far. We'll see how that changes in the future. But you know, engaging early and often with program managers and things, it makes a huge difference. So I would say reach out to that, to that network. So I mean we have had success with Ag Tech, but we get clients of all kinds and we would take the meeting, a 30 minute intake where we discuss what about the technology, the potential customer segments or whatever do you already know and what is your need? Is your need funding? Is your need more customers? How far along in the development path are you? And just kind of a top level assessment about kind of how far along are you? If it is a fit for sbir, we talk about that. If it's a private equity fit, we discussed that. The great thing about a state like Nebraska is that there really aren't that many people in the ecosystem to engage with. So I mean if, if it's an interesting technology, you make a call and, or you know, send an email and you can, you can speak with that person and get a, a fairly straightforward answer about whether or not they would fund you or not. So I think that part can be really helpful. Again, the downside being of course that there aren't that many people to shop it around with, at least in, in this state. The other thing, I guess this is about the only place it fits in terms of a plug is Nebraska has this thing called the Business Innovation Act. So it, it funds academic R D if there's further scientific things or technical questions that still need to be answered. The academic R D actually goes to a small business to then fund academic research around that idea, the basic science part of it, as well as a prototyping grant that requires some match and then also it will match your SBIR as well as pay or reimburse in a for phase zero kind of developing your grant proposal. So, so the state of Nebraska is trying to incentivize as best as possible with wraparound services and kind of funding mechanisms. And I know that Nebraska is not fully unique in that way. And so there are I'm sure state resources that would also be more than happy to hear what it is you're doing and how to help you.

Wonderful, Amy.

Yeah, I think similar to both Mary and Josh, really the first step if, if you are interested in getting some support from an organization like the center for Innovation as an entrepreneurial support organization, is to just give us a call, reach out by email when all that information is on our web pages, you know, and it is, it starts with us having a conversation with you about what are your goals, what do you want to do, what are the resources, you know, that we might be able to provide for you in doing that. And then, you know, from an SBIR perspective, thinking about, you know, are there ways we can help give you any guidance that our fast technical assistance offerings provide, whether that's, you know, some technical support, make helping you make introductions, you know, what does that look like? A lot of it happens in that first intake conversation. Sometimes as an early stage startup, maybe you need some help with validating your technology or you want connections to some talent, resources. Right. So what does that look like for you? All of that is part of that initial conversation, and then we can guide accordingly after that initial conversation.

Wonderful. So we have enough time for maybe a 45 second last bit of advice. Call to action, promotion or the thumbs up, meaning I've covered it all. So I'm just gonna go. I'm gonna start with you, Josh. Then we'll go, Amy. And then conclude with Mary. And if we've covered it, feel free to say, I've covered it.

Oh, I've covered it. I covered it. Basically. I want. No one will have any time to talk if I have time.

Amy.

You know, I think the big takeaway for me when we think about ecosystems is, you know, it really is important for you to reach out. Right. And to create those connections and be a part of that network. And you have to take advantage of the network. Right. The network's not going to come to you. And so really, a lot of it, just like with an entrepreneur who needs to get it done by doing the work, it's the same for us in building our ecosystems and creating our networks. It is, you know, it's all on us, too, to create that network and to be good partners for each other. And I think that's an exciting piece of this, especially in the space with the SBA and all of our resources that we have together is, you know, we truly are, you know, I'm happy to send somebody to Josh and Mary.

Right.

If that's the right place for them to be. And I would just say know that that's a network that we do work collaboratively even across our own organizations where we need to. And that's a big piece and a takeaway that I think is important for everybody.

Wonderful. Mary?

Yeah, I think, yeah. To kind of reiterate what. What Amy said. Right. We. So we have. We. It's important for us to have this network as funders as well. Right. Because it's not about, like, we're not trying to hoard people to fund. We want to see their companies be successful. So that may mean that they go in and out of these different funding programs. So it's important for us to have our interagency network. But I think. Yeah, just as a last point, as, as I said before, please reach out. You know, we love to chat with you and support you. We have a lot of different types of services and funding opportunities in Barda. So thanks so much for joining everybody.

Wonderful. Thank you all to the audience. And thank you all to our panelists. Thanks so much, everyone.

Thank you.

Thank you, Eric. Thank you, everyone. Yep.

Bye, friends.