Innovation Partnership Receives Additional Funding from Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority
On April 1, the BFTDA approved a $250,000 grant to the Innovation Partnership to support its mission of helping technology companies throughout Pennsylvania to compete more effectively for federal research and development grants.
Much, but not all, of this funding comes through the federal SBIR/STTR programs, which represent the single largest source of non-dilutive capital available to early-stage technology entrepreneurs. The Innovation Partnership, which is administered by the Ben Franklin Technology Partners, is a consortium of business assistance organizations located throughout Pennsylvania that function in a unified fashion to provide federal funding assistance to small technology enterprises.
The core of the Innovation Partnership initiative is the Pre-Proposal Preparation Assistance Program or PPAP. The PPAP, an online review system, offers high-quality reviews of proposed federal SBIR/STTR projects and their commercialization potential. Comprehensive written feedback is provided by three independent professional technical grant reviewers selected from an extensive reviewer pool. The reviewer pool includes 250+ experts with diverse scientific and industry qualifications, as well as extensive experience with the federal agencies that participate in the SBIR/STTR program.
Within five to seven business days of the application submission, the opinions and recommendations from these reviewers are compiled into an evaluation report that is shared with the applicant as constructive feedback. This is all accomplished online, and each applicant has an Innovation Partnership adviser to assist them throughout the application and review process.
Award Amounts
Phase I Proposals
- Micro-Voucher ($3,000 directly to a proposal-writing professional)
- Micro-Grant ($2,000 directly to the client to defray their internal costs of proposal preparation)
- Reimbursement for travel & training costs up to $1,000 per reviewed proposal.
Phase II Proposals
- Federal Marketing Assistance Awards (up to $10,000 to the company
to defray internal proposal preparation costs) - Reimbursement for travel & training costs up to $1,000 per reviewed proposal.
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