EDD Awards 8 Science & Technology Grants

State supports high-growth New Mexico companies through $25,000 Science & Technology grants

SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico Economic Development Department Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes announced that eight New Mexico high-growth-potential companies were awarded Science & Technology Business Start Up Grants at $25,000 each for a total of $200,000.

Science & Technology Business Start Up Grants are available to New Mexico-based for-profit science and technology companies with fewer than 50 employees. Eligible businesses must work in one of the following fields: aerospace, biosciences, cybersecurity, intelligent manufacturing, and sustainable and green energy. The grant specifically targets high-growth potential companies that provide a unique product or service, have a clear and compelling business proposition, demonstrate a scalable product and business model, have the potential to create jobs in New Mexico and/or garner private investment, and can provide economic benefit to the state greater than the award amount.

“I’m so impressed with the level of ingenuity coming out of our state,” Secretary Keyes said. “The work these companies do here ripples through the world to make a better, safer, and healthier future for all. New Mexico State is proud to partner with these science and technology companies to grow and create the jobs and innovative research that propels us to the forefront of innovation.”

The Office of Science and Technology (OST), housed within the New Mexico Economic Development Department (EDD), and the Technology Research Collaborative (TRC) board review all of the applications and choose the annual awardees. This round they reviewed more than 70 applications in an incredibly competitive field, according to OST Director Alex Greenberg. Final recommendations were made to EDD leadership by the TRC Board based on utility of the grant award and the potential for community and economic impact in New Mexico.

The eight companies receiving science and technology grants are:

T-Neuro Pharma (Albuquerque) - T-NeuroPharma was formed to develop a novel companion biomarker/therapeutic for Alzheimer’s Disease by taking a new approach to Alzheimer's diagnosis and treatment. They have identified an abnormal population of T-Cells that enters the brain, attacks the neurons, and causes Alzheimer's disease. These cells can be detected in a blood sample, which is the basis of their T-Track Diagnostic tool. The T-Track Therapeutic can block these cells from entering the brain.

K&K Skin Products (Albuquerque) - K&K Skin Products is a consumer company with a biotech twist. It is disrupting the skin care industry with a breakthrough patent-pending BioVer-X™? Serum that reduces the appearance of wrinkles, acne scars, and stretch marks.    

STEM Boomerang (Albuquerque) - STEM Boomerang is a workforce recruitment platform that provides a warm handshake between employers and the New Mexico graduates looking for career opportunities in the state. Their goal is to reverse New Mexico’s brain drain by employing advanced technology alongside personal engagement for recruitment, retention, and repatriation of our state’s best and brightest STEM professionals.

Nob Hill Therapeutics, Inc. (NHT) (Albuquerque) - NHT is commercializing a technology from UNM, an inhaled dry powder drug delivery device, in order to create effective inhalation therapies to address lower respiratory tract infections - the fifth leading overall cause of death worldwide - and other deadly lung diseases

Molten Salt Solutions (Santa Fe) - Molten Salt Solutions is developing technology that will be needed by the next generation of nuclear reactors, including isotope separation methods and salt synthesis methods, with grant funding and in collaborations with Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Neurinsight LLC (Albuqerque) - Neurinsight was established in 2012 by Dr. Posse to improve patient healthcare outcomes by providing individualized, highly specific, and sensitive point-of-care clinical neuroimaging solutions to guide brain surgery at an affordable cost. The company has completed an NIH Phase I STTR grant to develop a real-time resting-state functional MRI (rt-rsfMRI) software tool based on its proprietary TurboFIRE technology to map eloquent cortex in patients with brain tumors.

AllerPops Corp. (Los Alamos) - Allerpops is dedicated to relieving allergies for longer periods of time, removing the need for daily shots or pills, by treating the root cause of airborne allergies. AllerPops lollipops provide allergy relief lasting for months to years instead of mere hours by feeding good oral bacteria through their proprietary probiotic and prebiotic formula/foundation and all-natural ingredients.

Orch Tech LLC (Ohkay Owingeh) - ORC Tech is advancing the wireless industry through a portable, lightweight device to boost incoming signals and improve local connections for cell phones, laptops, satellite, and Wi-Fi internet receivers without the need for power plugs, cables, or batteries. The company has licensed this technology from NASA Johnson Space Center and is working to keep manufacturing and development in New Mexico.

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