Arise Nutrition among five businesses receiving $400,000 in state matching grants

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Five small businesses in Wisconsin will receive up to $400,000 to commercialize their innovations, thanks to the SBIR Advance program’s latest round of funding.
The state matching grant program provides assistance to companies in the process of completing a project in the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. This is the 26th round of SBIR .
Advance funding since this collaboration by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and the Center for Technology Commercialization (CTC) began in 2014.
Over the past decade, 196 awards totaling over $16.4 million have been awarded. Those businesses reported obtaining $99.2 million in follow on funding since receiving the SBIR Advance matching grants.
Arise Nutrition, LLC is a Phase I recipient, receiving up to $75,000 match. Arise is transforming how Midwest fruits and vegetables are processed into high-value food and supplement ingredients. By turning Wisconsin-grown crops and byproducts into shelf stable, antioxidant-rich ingredients, Arise is helping build a more sustainable, value-added agricultural economy. Other Phase I recipients include Galasys Inc. of Janesville, Saturn AgriSense Inc. (SAI) of Madison and Tensense LLC of Madison.

“We funded four Phase I teams and one Phase II teams for the most recent round of SBIR Advance grants,” said SBIR Advance Program Manager Rob Baranowski. “We have a variety of companies that have received funding from the USDA and the NIH in this cohort. We have made a concerted effort to increase the number of contracts awarded to our state, and we are always pleased to see our efforts pay off with more of these contracts being awarded to Wisconsin small businesses. We are especially excited to see the USDA contracts being awarded, as they have the ability to affect Wisconsin’s rural and agricultural economy.”
Baranowski continued, “We will once again be using the Innovation Within training group for our Phase I Lean Startup class. Innovation Within is involved in running some of the national I-Corps programs, and we are looking forward to the training they will provide to our Phase I teams.”
The U.S. government created SBIR/STTR programs to stimulate domestic high-tech innovation, budgeting over $4 billion in federal research funding annually. Because those funds cannot be used for commercialization activities, the SBIR Advance program fills the gap. Funds can be used to pursue market research, customer validation, intellectual property work or other areas that speed commercialization.
SBIR Advance grant recipients receive CTC staff support available throughout the commercialization process, including Lean Startup training, business plan review and other consulting.
“The SBIR Advance program demonstrates the impact collaboration among organizations. Working together, the Universities of Wisconsin and WEDC provides the needed resources to support startups, many which are innovating in the areas of biohealth and renewable energy technology, two key areas of Wisconsin’s economic future,” said Sam Rikkers, deputy secretary and chief operating officer of WEDC, the state’s lead economic development agency. “The SBIR program provides these startups an opportunity to remove the gaps between innovation, customers, investors, and ultimately success for Wisconsin.”
“Thank you to WEDC and all ecosystem partners who made our 10th Anniversary SBIR Advance Showcase a success this fall.” said Margaret Ramey, director of Wisconsin CTC. “We are excited to add these innovators to our impressive group of SBIR Advance awardees.”
For more details on the SBIR Advance program, visit www.wisconsinctc.org/sbiradvance or email ctc@lists.wisconsin.edu. The next solicitation is expected to open in late summer.
SBIR Advance is part of a Start-Seed-Scale (S3) initiative WEDC is pursuing with the help of the Universities of Wisconsin and other business leaders throughout the state to remove barriers to high-tech commercialization. Under the S3 umbrella, WEDC and its economic development partners are implementing financial and operational assistance programs designed specifically to address Wisconsin’s business startup and seed-funding challenges.