Two programs based out of the same building on the University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus are helping transform research done in a lab into marketable technology that can generate dollars and jobs.
The newest of the two is Lab2Launch, a virtual accelerator run by the Arkansas Small Business & Technology Development Center. It is teaching companies how to apply for federal grants that fund R&D with the potential for commercialization.
The other is Tech Launch, a university office that helps faculty and students commercialize their inventions, free of charge.
‘Highly competitive’
Lab2Launch steers companies toward the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer grant programs that are “highly competitive,” with an average success rate of 20% among the various federal agencies that award them, according to ASBTDC Innovation Specialist Rebecca Todd.
The goal of the free-to-companies accelerator is to increase the state’s overall grant application submissions, particularly from areas that haven’t had high submission rates in the past.
To date, 16 companies from all over Arkansas have participated in Lab2Launch, Todd said. “Last year, 80% of the participants in our accelerator cohorts submitted SBIR/STTR Phase I applications, with the remainder deciding to target future deadlines,” she said. “In many cases, companies need to assess the feedback received on their initial proposals and resubmit more competitive ones that respond to those initial critiques. We do have two accelerator graduate companies that are strongly positioned to receive SBIR/STTR Phase I awards and are currently awaiting final award decisions from their respective funding agencies.”
Lab2Launch kicked off in January 2020 and was designed to be virtual prior to the pandemic so that it could reach all corners of Arkansas. Each accelerator has a focus, too.
Last year, Lab2Launch companies worked to apply for funding from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. The next accelerator will start in June and be U.S. Department of Agriculture-focused.
The program is held twice a year and limited to six company teams that meet on a weekly basis for eight weeks. They’re introduced to the SBIR/STTR program and complete homework assignments each week that keep them on track for making the submission deadline. In addition, they share their experiences with each other.
“It’s empowering for the participants to share lessons learned with the group and support their peers,” Todd said. Guest speakers are brought in as well.
Literal Name
Tech Launch was established under a different name in 2006 but rebranded in 2014 “to more accurately represent what the goal of this office is. It literally wants to help researchers launch their technology out into the marketplace,” said Brian Berry, vice provost for research and dean of the graduate school.
He said the federal government spends billions of dollars on university research each year but that researchers aren’t business savvy.
Many of them don’t know how to start companies, file patents, set up licensing or make sure their technology is developed enough to begin taking to market. That’s where Tech Launch can step in and help.
The office has one full-time employee: Intellectual Property and Licensing Manager Glediana Rexha. But Berry said it is looking to hire a second person because she will soon be going part time to pursue an opportunity with NuShores Biosciences LLC, one of the university’s five spin-off companies.
In a spinoff, the University of Arkansas System owns the intellectual property associated with a researcher’s product and, when that product is commercialized, UA Little Rock receives royalties plus a licensing fee, Berry said.
In addition, he said there are a few ways to measure Tech Launch’s success.
The office holds 54 active U.S. patents and 10 international patents and has filed 62 provisional patents over the past five years, Berry said. Also, 78% of its patent portfolio is licensed i.e. being used by a company.
However, Tech Launch is spending $200,000-plus a year to do what it does, and that’s more than it is getting back from royalties and licensing fees, Berry said. But he believes that investment will eventually pay off.
(Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly identified the focus of the next accelerator. The error has been corrected.)
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