Success Stories
Visionaire Products
IMPROVING VISION OUTCOMES WITH INNOVATIVE OCULAR BIOPSY KIT
Visionaire Products has created an innovative and novel surgical tool to obtain ocular fluid (eye fluid) safely, improve ocular infection diagnosis, and help provide better vision outcomes. The startup received a $256,000 SBIR Phase I award from the National Science Foundation. Visionaire Products plans to use this funding for developing an early prototype and testing.
Prenosis
IMPROVING EARLY SEPSIS IDENTIFICATION
Illinois startup Prenosis won a $4.3M contract from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), a U.S. Department of Defense agency, to improve early sepsis identification for U.S. military in the field. Prenosis is a health tech innovator devoted to ushering in a new era of precision diagnostics in acute care using artificial intelligence. Their products provide physicians with real-time information to improve outcomes and reduce hospital costs. Prenosis has also been awarded $704,525 in SBIR NSF funding to date.
PhotoniCare
DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE EAR IMAGING TECHNOLOGY
PhotoniCare, Inc., a medical device company headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, is dedicated to revolutionizing healthcare by providing physicians with better diagnostic tools like the TOMi Scope (OtoSight Middle Ear Scope), the first and only otoscope to provide non-invasive imaging of the middle ear. PhotoniCare has received a $2.1 million Phase II SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Cast21
REVOLUTIONIZING THE ORTHOPEDIC CAST INDUSTRY
Cast 21 is disrupting the orthopedic cast industry with its innovative, waterproof, and breathable cast alternative. The startup has developed the Osteon Defender, which takes only 3 minutes to apply, and its open lattice net-like design leaves the skin accessible to washing and scratching. This eliminates the main causes of patient complaints, as well as possible clinical complications, with traditional orthopedic cast.
Mesh++
ENABLING INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN REMOTE AREAS
Mesh++ is focused on bringing internet connectivity to rural and underserved communities with self-powered mesh nodes. The tech startup has created solar powered Wi-Fi routers with proprietary technology. Mesh++ has raised $4.9M in seed funding, and they were awarded a $225,000 SBIR Phase I investment in 2019.
PSYONIC
DEVELOPING ACCESSIBLE
BIONIC PROSTHETIC
DEVICES
PSYONIC has created the first and only bionic hand with multi-touch sensory feedback. The functional and affordable Ability Hand was commercially released in the market in September 2021. The startup aims to improve the quality of life of over 10 million people with hand amputations worldwide. PSYONIC also plans to make prosthetic legs in the long term.
EarthSense
CREATING CUTTING-EDGE ROBOTICS TO REVOLUTIONIZE AGRICULTURE
EarthSense, an Illinois AgTech startup, has been awarded Phase I and II SBIR funding. This Small Business Technology Transfer Award will enable them to further accelerate innovation in their robotics, autonomy, and edge analytics technologies. This will also allow EarthSense to achieve large-scale deployment of their TerraSentia robot for agricultural research and product development.
Amber Agriculture
HELPING FARMERS MONITOR CROP QUALITY
This Illinois AgTech startup has developed smartphone-connected pellet-sized wireless sensors to remotely monitor the internal conditions of stored crops such as moisture levels, temperature, and other key information in grain bins to prevent crop spoilage and increase yield. The company has raised $3M to date.
FrostDefense Envirotech
REDUCING FROST MANAGEMENT COSTS
FrostDefense Envirotech Inc. is an NSF funded AgTech startup based at the EnterpriseWorks technology incubator in Research Park. They are developing proprietary technology to protect grapes from early spring frost damage and improve labor and mechanization management of the vineyard with the $1 million SBIR Phase II grant.
Sun Buckets
DEVELOPING LOW COST & SUSTAINABLE COOKING SOLUTIONS
Sun Buckets, an Illinois social venture, has developed a portable solar powered cook stove. The cook stove is helping to address the global cooking crisis by providing a healthier, cost-effective alternative to cooking with solid fuels. Over three billion people on the planet cook with open fires, kerosene, biomass or coal. According to WHO, every year, close to four million die prematurely from respiratory complications because of household cooking pollution.