Rift Valley Health Company Awarded Competitive Grant from the National Science Foundation
Small Business Innovation Research Program Provides Seed Funding for R&D
Longmont, Colorado, March 24, 2022 – Rift Valley Health Company has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $256,000 to conduct research and development (R&D) work on improving wellness and mental resilience on an individualized level.
Workplace-related disruptions in mental health are one of the most pressing and costly challenges facing both workers and institutions today, and the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly amplified already-high levels of stress and burnout. When workers are unhappy, employees, organizations, and customers all suffer. While this problem is broad in scope and present across all sectors, healthcare is one industry where the effects of disrupted mental health in workers are particularly significant, costly, and high-risk.
“NSF is proud to support the technology of the future by thinking beyond incremental developments and funding the most creative, impactful ideas across all markets and areas of science and engineering,” said Andrea Belz, Division Director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships at NSF. “With the support of our research funds, any deep technology startup or small business can guide basic science into meaningful solutions that address tremendous needs.”
“The Rift Valley team is thrilled to be awarded this SBIR grant from the NSF and are ready to dive in and utilize this funding to bring our product to market,” said Loren Trottmann, Co-Founder. “We strongly believe our product has the potential to revolutionize the way in which individuals manage disruptions to their mental health and increase the quality of life through increased resilience to stress.”
Once a small business is awarded a Phase I SBIR/STTR grant (up to $275,000), it becomes eligible to apply for a Phase II (up to $1,000,000). Small businesses with Phase II funding are eligible to receive up to $500,000 in additional matching funds with qualifying third-party investments or sales.
About the National Science Foundation’s Small Business Programs: America’s Seed Fund, powered by NSF, awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $2 million to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.5 billion, supporting fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering..