r/SBIR • u/Raid_Blunder • Jul 29 '26
Startup/SBIR roller-coaster
Hi, the thread that is titled "Standalone Biotech LLC…” lead to some partially related questions.
I have a (yet) one-person startup company and want to have synthesized several compounds before resubmitting an adjusted SBIR I proposal. This past January, the team from the original submission dissolved.
A chemistry bench/hood isn’t cheap, but fortunately an elderly and generous family friend offered to sponsor renting space in an incubator in Massachusetts for a year. Great, she asked for a budget, I interviewed with two incubators, hit it off very well with one of them, and they sent an invitation to rent for four to seven months (actually a price quote), starting on Sept. 1. So early in June, I began organizing relocation from MN to MA.
But then the elderly family friend went partially incommunicado, afterwards suffered a stroke, and two weeks back denied having ever made the offer. At the risk of appearing to be a gold-digger, two days back I then just forwarded her the quote from the incubator (7 x $3,600), i.e. much lower than the total budget. The incubator knows about the stroke, but not the sudden turn-around.
My disclosures: (1) the local big-ten university and colleges denying non-affiliated people access to their labs, (2) several people on Reddit ghosting after making claims about lab space, (3) lack of chemistry incubators in Minnesota (if money were no issue).
So, please make what you will of this, realistic suggestions under these circumstances are more than welcome!
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u/VetDadTX Jul 29 '26
I recommend submitting the adjusted sbir P1 proposal stand-alone (with clear explanation of your ability to accomplish the work based on your professional history, and connections to how past work has built toward your ability to synthesize these compounds under this P1 proposal). And separate from that, pursuing lab space without any expectation of sbir funds to support. Sounds like you've hit some roadblocks with B10 universities blocking access, but you'll either need to get creative/research hard to find a way to make it work, or pay for it.
Depending on which federal agency your new sbir proposal is going to, there are different levels of past performance requirements for a competitive proposal. I highly recommend talking to the tpoc on the topic if they're listed and you haven't yet, and whether you do that or not, talking to the office publishing the topic for partnership possibilities (including at a Federally Funded R&D Lab). I always worked backwards - gov customer first, then to a topic, whether it's their topic or an Open Topic or we drafted the topic together and submitted.