August 26, 2017 SDEE Workshop:  Building Your Company with Non-Dilutive Funding 

By Roberta Vezza Alexander, PharmD, PhD

On Thursday, October 26, 2017, San Diego Entrepreneurs Exchange (SDEE) held a workshop on non-dilutive funding and grant writing at the Hera Hub in San Diego. SDEE members and non-members had the opportunity to network before the event and snack on food and beverages. 

Marilyn Ferrari, the co-chair of the events committee of SDEE, kicked-off the night by describing the mission of SDEE, which is to provide resources as well as networking and educational opportunities for early stage companies in the life sciences, biotech, pharma, medical devices, technology and alternative energy sectors.

The speakers were: Tamara Mayer Schwent, Director of Operations, Sirenas, LLC; Jiwu Wang, PhD, President & CEO, Allele Biotechnology; and R. Scott Struthers, PhD, Founder & CEO, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals. They have all relied heavily over the years on non-dilutive funding to bring their companies to the level of success that they have now.

Non-dilutive funding is defined as financing that does not require the sale of a company's shares and, thus, does not cause dilution of the existing shareholders. Non-diluting funding comes from non-profit organizations or from private or public organizations, such as the various institutes of the National Institute of Health (NIH).

The summary of the night is divided in 3 parts.

1. The first part focuses on the difference and similarities between various government funds, such as small business innovation research (SBIR) grants and contracts and small business technology transfer (STTR) grants.
2. The second part describes the SBIR scoring process and shares tips and tricks on how to write a successful SBIR grant.
3. The third part is about the funding process from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

Stay tuned. Part 1 will be featured in next week's blog.