Small Business Administration awards BioTN $100,000
The organization and its partners will use the funding to expand new workforce training opportunities in Middle Tennessee.
BioTN, in partnership with BioHub Nashville and Cumberland Emerging Technologies, has been awarded $100,000 as a ‘Stage Two’ winner for the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC) by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The competitive program distributed $3 million to strengthen community resources that assist science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-based companies scale across the country.
BioTN, a statewide nonprofit that focuses on STEM education and bioscience entrepreneurship development, will use the grant funding to expand new workforce training opportunities in Middle Tennessee as well as actively engage with academic researchers, entrepreneurs, and ecosystem partners in the region to help bring their technologies to market. The organization will also create an online map of the life science ecosystem in Middle Tennessee to connect companies with needed resources.
“The life sciences sector in Middle Tennessee is at an inflection point and these funds will attribute to creating resources for startups to scale in the region,” said Abby Trotter, BioTN Executive Director. “With increased number of life science companies, a rise in the number of life science investors, and a fresh focus on workforce training programs, we’re excited about what lies ahead for Middle Tennessee and the state.”
In May, BioTN and its partners received $50,000 bring selected as a ‘Phase I’ awardee for the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition.
“Middle Tennessee a unique chance to leverage our major healthcare systems and tech talent to create an ecosystem around biotechnology,” said Ania Payne, Founder of BioHub Nashville. “This grant represents a great step in building an innovation community around life sciences in Middle Tennessee, which leads to higher paying jobs, a more diverse economy, and lifesaving technologies used by patients.”
BioTN recently announced its new accelerator program for life science companies, the Life Science Venture Program, led by Dr. Karrie Dudek. This program is funded through Launch Tennessee, the innovation partner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
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