Key Dates

Related Announcements

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Issued by

Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health (OD)

Purpose

Purpose:

The NIH Entrepreneurship Boot Camp provides teams of academic and small business investigators with specialized innovation and entrepreneurship training. Instructors with decades of life-science innovation and entrepreneurial experience will teach participating teams to use a life science focused customer discovery process to assess customer and stakeholder needs, develop stronger business models and market strategies, and validate their commercialization plans in advance of their initial Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) application.

This programtargets teams that have not yet been awarded an SBIR or STTR for their technology development project, and that may not yet have formed a company. No prior product development or commercialization experience is required and innovators who are new to the NIH ecosystem are highly encouraged to apply.

Participating teams will learn critical skills including (a) when, why, and how to talk to diverse stakeholders without offering remuneration; (b) when to talk to regulators and third-party payers; and (c) how to approach potential partners, funders, or acquirers.

Consequently, this course will improve participants’ understanding of the commercialization requirements of biotechnology development and will inform their decisions to pursue SBIR/STTR funding or any other source of support. The Boot Camp also places teams on a path to take advantage of other NIH innovator support programs, particularly those associated with the NIH Small Business Program (SBIR/STTR).

Eligibility: Teamsmust register witha technical lead with expertise in the proposed project and an individual who will act as the business lead and who is interested in learning how to assess whether the innovation presents a compelling commercialization opportunity. There is no cost for teams to participate in this program.

The program is structured such that full participation is required across the sessions, which build upon each other. Thus, only teams who can commit the time and effort to participate in the coursework, webinars, and one-on-one coaching sessions actively and consistently should apply.

Innovators who have an active SBIR/STTR award (including no cost extensions) during the course are not eligible for this program. (Active SBIR/STTR Phase I awardees are eligible for other programs – see https://seed.nih.gov/support-for-small-businesses/commercialization-enhancement-programs.)

The inaugural Entrepreneurship Bootcamp will begin accepting requestsin April 2024.Further information about the programmay be found on the NIH SEED website: NIH Entrepreneurship Bootcamp.
 

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to:

Eric W. Padmore MHSA
Senior Advisor Entrepreneurial Development
OD/SEED
Email: Eric.Padmore@NIH.gov