OnLume Awarded CTC’s SBIR Advance Grant

OnLume Inc., a medical device company developing novel surgical imaging technology, was accepted into the SBIR Advance program sponsored by the Center for Technology Commercialization (CTC). The SBIR Advance program was created by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to provide state match funding, training, and other resources to Wisconsin businesses to advance the commercialization of Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funded technology and expedite economic and job creation impact in Wisconsin. This competitive grant provides $75,000 to support the commercialization of OnLume’s imaging technology for fluorescence-image guided surgery. The provided funding supplements a Phase I SBIR Grant awarded to OnLume by the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health for research and development efforts.

“We are very grateful for the CTC’s guidance and generous support. The SBIR advance program helps us fill a critical funding gap for market research and IP portfolio expansion activities that are generally restricted under federal grant awards,” said Benjamin Titz, co-founder and CSO of OnLume. “Working with the CTC has been instrumental in the refinement of our business model and will greatly benefit our commercialization efforts as we continue the advancement of our technology.“

Funds from WEDC’s program are available to Wisconsin-based recipients of federal SBIR and STTR grants. The U.S. government created the SBIR/STTR programs to stimulate domestic high-tech innovation, providing $2 billion of federal research funding each year.