The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded founder of Respira Labs with a $225,000 Phase I grant in support for continuing work on developing technology for COPD. The highly competitive and prestigious NSF SBIR program supports ideas that have high risk, high impact, and present a strong case for commercialization.
Here are some impressive facts
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The acceptance rate for Phase I is 14.4% out of 1,300 applications. Respira Labs won at first attempt.
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Majority of the winning startups are owned by engineers, while Artunduaga is a physician.
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As of 2018, only 23% of the main researchers were women.
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Artunduaga is the only Latin woman awarded out of 189 awards.
Once again, Respira Labs is achieving great things in medical technology and diversity in tech. The win could not have come at a better time, with Respira Lab’s 1st place win of $20,000 in the 2019 UC Davis Big Bang Competition occurring just a couple weeks before.
Here’s what the founder has to say about her recent win:
“I am very excited about this NSF-backed effort to commercialize our AI-powered technology,” said Dr. Artunduaga, CEO at Respira Labs. “The grant will fund further development of our wearable device that will signal deterioration in the lung for those with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). With only 10 months of research and development, we have seen great demand from the market and have secured letters of intent and support from medical centers, patients and doctors.”
By securing this Phase I grant, Respira Labs is now eligible to apply for a Phase II grant for up to $750,000. Hopefully, a future blog post is on that win!
Thank you to all that have supported Respira Labs thus far. We are excited to use this money for greater developments in the field of COPD.