FRANKFORT, Ky. (WBKO) – Two Bowling Green companies are among eight selected to receive $750,000 in state matching grants to support high-paying jobs and to further grow the state’s technology sector.
The grants are part of Kentucky’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) matching funds program. The funds will match, in part, $6.4 million in federal grants the businesses will collectively receive.
The eight Kentucky-based businesses awarded matching funds are utilizing technology to advance multiple fields, including cancer therapy, postpartum recovery, battery technology, and healthcare screening improvements.
Recipient companies include:
- BumptUp Labs Inc. (Bowling Green): The BumptUp Labs project focuses on improving maternal and infant health through a digital platform to make key lifestyle modifications. The overarching goal of BumptUp is to become a sustainable platform for safe, effective, inclusive and evidence-based physical activity guidance to all pregnant and postpartum women.
- Caza Innovations LLC (Bowling Green): The Caza Innovations project will develop a portable optical light source and power meter capable of simultaneously measuring the power in optical fiber at multiple discrete wavelengths. The developed portable test instrument will support installation, testing, operations and growth of optical systems for terrestrial and mobile optical communication markets.
- Space Tango LLC (Lexington): The TangoBox is an evolution of Space Tango capabilities that is optimized for automated space manufacturing and research. In this project, Space Tango is proposing a new multi-use R&D and manufacturing infrastructure to vastly increase the throughput of the International Space Station (ISS) and future commercial platforms such as commercial ISS modules and commercial Low Earth Orbit (LEO) destinations for manufacturing purposes. This capability will benefit commercial operators and users in LEO as well as NASA for its forecast of needs for services in LEO after ISS is retired.
- B.A. Maze, Inc. (Louisville): At-Home Health Station (AHS) systems by B.A. Maze Inc. provides a technology platform that organizes health monitoring tools, enables prompted health information, and has secure data for streamlined patient-caregiver care and communication. The AHS will be developed via implementation feedback from individuals living with cognitive impairment/Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, ensuring the design is appropriate to the specific needs of this population.
- Creosalus Inc. (Louisville): The devastating outcomes for glioblastoma (GBM) patients remain despite the advances in cancer therapy. Improved GBM therapy as a critical unmet need requires new GBM intervention capabilities, as proposed with this Creosalus project. The premise of this project is that one of the challenges to improving GBM patient lives can be overcome by increased therapeutic coverage of GBM tumors using an innovative convection-enhanced delivery catheter.
- PGXL Technologies LLC (Louisville): PGXL Technologies and the University of Louisville Research Foundation are developing a rapid, simple-to-use, and cost-effective urine collection kit for the detection of obstructive sleep apnea in children, which will support diagnosis, patient monitoring, and screening. Common tests are reliable but limited by high cost and require an overnight sleep study at a clinic, making a simple, non-invasive urine test beneficial and commercially attractive.
- HeXalayer LLC (Jeffersontown): HeXalayer is developing an advanced manufacturing process for its proprietary graphene material, which is utilized in the development of ultralight and safe lithium-ion batteries for the U.S. Department of Defense, as an additive to polymers, lubricants, and other critical industrial applications. U.S.-based graphene manufacturing is important not only to national security but also for enabling the development of other cutting-edge technologies and products.
- Lagrange Scientific LLC (Pewee Valley): Lagrange Scientific is addressing a critical unmet need in kidney cancer by developing a novel laboratory-developed test to predict metastasis risk at the time of primary tumor resection, years before the standard of oncological care is able to identify and treat the spread of the cancer.
According to the release, Kentucky’s SBIR/STTR program, overseen by KY Innovation, provides critical non-dilutive capital for promising early-stage tech companies by matching all or part of federal SBIR/STTR awards received by Kentucky-based businesses or companies committed to relocating to the state.
For more information on Kentucky’s SBIR/STTR matching funds program and awarded companies, go to kyinnovation.com/sbir.
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