At its September meeting, the Maine Technology Institute (MTI) Board of Directors awarded $141,171 in twelve new Seed Grants to entrepreneurs from Limestone to Eliot to advance new product and process development in aquaculture and marine technology, biotechnology, composite materials technologies, environmental technologies, information technology and precision manufacturing. This round of MTI awards leveraged over $220K of matching contributions from the award recipients. These Seed Grants will support early-stage research and development activities for entrepreneurs to bring new products to market.
“Congratulations to this latest round of Seed Grant award recipients,” said MTI President Betsy Biemann, on the announcement. “These Maine businesses have successfully competed for these highly competitive grants based on the commercial potential of their idea and their plan to move it forward. They have also matched the MTI funding with at least $1 for every $1. We look forward to continuing to work with these entrepreneurs to help them achieve sales and grow good jobs for Maine people. ”
The September Seed Grant Awardees and projects by industry sector are:
Aquaculture and Marine Technology
Harpswell Oceanic Center, Inc., Brunswick for a Case Study for Permitting Commercial RAS in Maine
Harpswell Oceanic Center, Inc. in collaboration with RAS Corporation will develop, with the assistance of Baker Design Consultants, a Conceptual Design and Site Plan for use in project presentation and preparation of required federal, state and local permits for Harpswell Oceanic Center and its innovative black sea bass indoor aquafarm.
Award: $12,500 Match: $15,196
Biotechnology
Sensory Cyber Systems (SCS) LLC, Orono for a Low Cost Color and Contrast Calibrator
Sensory Cyber Systems, LLC, in Orono is developing and field testing proprietary software and a hardware device for applications in visual screening, education, and biomedical research. Commercialization of the product would allow optometrists, ophthalmologists, and other health care workers to serve the public better and at lower cost.
Award: $12,500 Match: $40,007
StarFix, Inc., Bowdoinham for a Patient Customized Fixture for Stereotactic Frame
StarFix is a Maine medical technology development company that specializes in custom surgical targeting fixtures. StarFix holds nine US patents and was awarded a Medical Design Excellence Award for a deep brain stimulation head frame. StarFix products simplify physician planning and are more comfortable, repeatable, and accurate than traditional metal head frames.
Award: $12,500 Match: $17,028
Signal Insight Inc, Falmouth for an iScan(TM) Injury Assessment in Horses
Sonotect™ provides the first direct detection and assessment of inflammation, injury and tissue physiological status, including staging of severity. iScan™ scanning devices integrate with web analysis/display services to enhance diagnosis, documentation, economics and outcomes through mobile, handheld, and imaging solutions. An equine clinical study will be conducted to validate commercialization.
Award: $12,475 Match: $19,825
Composite Materials Technology
Salty Boats of Maine, Eliot for the Development of Cost Effective Building Techniques
Salty Boats of Maine will be using MIT Grant funds to develop construction techniques for low speed high torque wind turbine blades using fiberglass reinforced plastics composites.
Award: $12,275 Match: $13,495
Environmental Technology
Van Keith Herridge, Jr. and L. Darius Jonason, Spruce Head for a Portable Shallow Stream Electric Generator
This grant will fund the development and testing of a prototype of a portable shallow stream electric generator that produces up to 600 watts in very shallow streambeds with variable substrates and channel configurations. It may also be used as an accessory to remote renewable energy collection systems.
Award: $7,930 Match: $15,761
Altaeros Energies, Inc., Limestone for a Loring Test of Rapid Deployment Wind Turbine
Altaeros Energies was founded by MIT alumni to develop a rapid-deployment Airborne Wind Turbine to generate cheap, renewable energy at off-grid and offshore sites. This project will fund testing of a one-third scale prototype of the Airborne Wind Turbine at the former Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine.
Award: $11,800 Match: $20,000
Applied Thermal Sciences, Inc., Sanford for the Processing of Environmentally Friendly AN
Applied Thermal Sciences’ proposed project is the installation of a hammer mill for processing Ammonium Nitrate based solid rocket. The MTI Seed Grant will be used for improving the processing of Ammonium Nitrate based solid rocket propellant with a hammer mill.
Award: $9,511 Match: $9,630
Information Technology
Integra Strategic Technologies Consulting, LLC, Portland for Client Coordination Software
The goal of this project is to develop a web-based application for small businesses featuring project management, client invoicing, issue tracking and customer relationship management. This proposal will encompass market research, site structuring and preliminary development.
Award: $12,500 Match: $21,940
Peter Snell & Associates, Gardiner for Patent Protection for Linguistic Analysis
This MTI Seed Grant will be used for international patent protection and business planning for an advanced form of automated linguistic (test) analysis. Scope of work for this Information Technology project entails filing applications in five key regions and producing a written business plan for commercialization.
Award: $12,500 Match: $21,000
Blue Marble Group, Gardiner for Geospatial PDF Mapping
Blue Marble Geographics will develop support for Geospatial PDF in their Desktop and Software Developer Toolkits. Through this project Blue Marble will address market needs for delivering geospatially intelligent business mapping data to the Adobe acrobat suite.
Award: $12,500 Match: $13,954
Precision Manufacturing Technology
Karkos Group, LLC, Cumberland Foreside for Commercial Blender Development
The Karkos Group LLC in Lewiston is developing a new technology commercial kitchen appliance. The MTI funding, through the precision manufacturing sector, will be used to advance the prototype development, competitive analysis and market research with additional testing at the Advanced Manufacturing Center at the University of Maine in Orono.
Award: $12,180 Match: $13,080
This is the final round of the traditional Seed Grant. MTI has launched new grants that include a TechStart Grant of up to $5,000 to support early stage planning and development of product and processes and a new Seed Grant of up to $25,000 to focus on early stage R&D.
MTI Seed Grants of up to $25,000 are now offered three times a year to support early-stage research and development activities for new products and services that lead to the market. Funded activities may include activities such as proof of concept work, prototype development, field trials, prototype testing, pilot studies, or technology transfer activities. Funded projects must fall under one of Maine’s seven targeted technology sectors. MTI offers Seed Grants as direct investments in companies that are pioneering Maine’s future through their technology innovations. Loan recipients are companies undertaking research and development that will enable them to grow and remain competitive in the global marketplace. The next Seed Grant application deadline is December 8.
MTI TechStart Grants will be awarded up to twelve times each year, for up to $5,000 per project. TechStart Grants may be used to support specific activities such as business plan development, intellectual property filings, market analysis, or planning and preparation activities related to the submission of Federal SBIR/STTR Phase I grants or Federal Broad Agency Announcement for technology development. TechStart Grant projects must have clearly defined deliverable outcomes and endpoints for the specifically funded scope of work not to exceed six months in duration. Each grant requires a 1:1 match. The next TechStart Grant application deadline is November 1.
MTI is a publicly financed, private nonprofit organization created by the Legislature to stimulate research and development activity leading to the commercialization of new products, processes and services in the state’s seven technology-intensive sectors. Programs are designed to enhance the competitive position of those sectors and increase the likelihood that one or more of the sectors will support clusters of industrial activity and create quality jobs across Maine. More about MTI at: www.mainetechnology.org.
###
Click here for the list of awardees.