Nexilico Awarded Competitive Grant from the National Science Foundation
Berkeley, CA, February 1, 2020 – Nexilico, Inc. has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $225,000 to conduct research and development (R&D) work on the personalization of gut microbiome therapeutics. This project is in collaboration with Siolta Therapeutics Inc.
A growing body of research is unearthing the close associations between a range of diseases and the gut microbiome. As a result, a range of "live biotherapeutics" are under development to fight various diseases by modulating the gut microbiota. A primary challenge, however, is the highly variable compositional and functional landscape of the gut microbiome across individuals. In order to address this issue, Nexilico is developing a computational platform to personalize live biotherapeutics and improve patient response rate and therapeutics efficacy.
“NSF is proud to support the technology of the future by thinking beyond incremental developments and funding the most creative, impactful ideas across all markets and areas of science and engineering,” said Andrea Belz, Division Director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships at NSF. “With the support of our research funds, any deep technology startup or small business can guide basic science into meaningful solutions that address tremendous needs.”
"We are extremely delighted to be selected as one of the recipients of the SBIR Phase I grant from the NSF" said Dr. Mohammad Soheilypour, CEO of Nexilico, Inc. "This funding would substantially help our team to further develop and validate our technology. In addition, the mentorship from NSF's network of seasoned entrepreneurs, innovators, and commercialization experts provides us with the tools and knowledge to successfully commercialization our technology."
Once a small business is awarded a Phase I SBIR/STTR grant (up to $256,000), it becomes eligible to apply for a Phase II grant (up to $1,000,000). Small businesses with Phase II grants are eligible to receive up to $500,000 in additional matching funds with qualifying third-party investment or sales.
Startups or entrepreneurs who submit a three-page Project Pitch will know within three weeks if they meet the program’s objectives to support innovative technologies that show promise of commercial and/or societal impact and involve a level of technical risk. Small businesses with innovative science and technology solutions, and commercial potential are encouraged to apply. All proposals submitted to the NSF SBIR/STTR program, also known as America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, undergo a rigorous merit-based review process. To learn more about America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, visit: https://seedfund.nsf.gov/
About the National Science Foundation's Small Business Programs: America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $1.75 million to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.1 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.
