Murrieta Genomics To Sponsor SBIR/STTR Workshop - Entrepreneurs to Learn About "America's Seed Fund"

MURRIETA, Calif., Mar. 7, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Murrieta Genomics, the genomic sequencing business incubator, is pleased to be a sponsor of a full day workshop presented by University of California Riverside's EPIC SBDC focused on research funding by U.S. Small Business Administration. The event is being held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17, 2019. The location is the Highlander Union Building, Room 302 South on the University of California Riverside campus.

Federal SBIR/STTR programs provide $2.5 Billion in capital funding every year to help small business entrepreneurs bring transformative innovations to market. Attendees will join program officers from five federal agencies for this incredible conference to learn how to obtain early stage funding to commercialize their ideas. They can make an appointment to meet with agency program directors and discuss potential proposals with the Department of Defense, US Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Science Foundation. They can also meet with former grant winners, founders, and business experts/mentors.

"These programs offered by the SBA are a great resource for entrepreneurs in the genomics industry," stated Murrieta Genomics co-founder and President John Powers. "Since 1982, over $478 billion has been awarded to American small businesses. The great thing is that the government does not take an equity stake in the company, so this is non-dilutive financing. There are many challenges to successfully obtaining awards, and this workshop will give attendees a competitive advantage."

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is a highly competitive program that encourages domestic small businesses to engage in Federal Research/Research and Development (R/R&D) that has the potential for commercialization. Through a competitive awards-based program, SBIR enables small businesses to explore their technological potential and provides the incentive to profit from its commercialization. By including qualified small businesses in the nation's R&D arena, high-tech innovation is stimulated, and the United States gains entrepreneurial spirit as it meets its specific research and development needs.

The Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) is another program that expands funding opportunities in the federal innovation research and development (R&D) arena. Central to the program is expansion of the public/private sector partnership to include the joint venture opportunities for small businesses and nonprofit research institutions. The unique feature of the STTR program is the requirement for the small business to formally collaborate with a research institution in Phase I and Phase II. STTR's most important role is to bridge the gap between performance of basic science and commercialization of resulting innovations.

"As we begin working with scientists and researchers from the University, I can envision many opportunities to utilize SBIR and STTR programs to help these companies get started," continued Mr. Powers. "By sponsoring this workshop, we hope to bring new ideas around funding and technology commercialization to our local entrepreneurs."

About Murrieta Genomics
Murrieta Genomics provides access to next generation sequencing technology for researchers in the health, veterinary, agriculture, forensics and direct to consumer industries. The company is a true business incubator, offering mentorship and guidance from both the scientific and business perspective to aspiring genomic-related entrepreneurs. The founders of Murrieta Genomics have extensive background in business, finance, science and technology. They are supplemented with a prestigious advisory board from both business and science. In addition to low-cost incubation, the company provides hands-on consulting and will provide seed funding to qualified incubator graduates and connections to next-stage funders. For more information visit http://www.murrietagenomics.com.

About the University of California, Riverside
The University of California, Riverside (http://www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment is more than 24,000 students. The campus opened a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of almost $2 billion. To learn more, visit https://www.ucr.edu/.

About EPIC SBDC
EPIC SBDC is an expansion of services provided by UCR's Entrepreneurial Proof of Concept and Innovation Center (EPIC). Launched in October 2016, EPIC has grown rapidly by recruiting 15 Entrepreneurs in Residence, providing access to the Highlander Fund (the first venture capital fund in the Riverside area), becoming an NSF I-Corps site, and partnering with the city and county of Riverside to provide business acceleration and office space through ExCITE. Learn more at https://sbdctech.com/about-epic/.

SOURCE Murrieta Genomics