FOSTER CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Cache DNA, Inc. 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 scalable nucleic acid storage and access that can be applied to biological and archival digital data.
Cache’s breakthrough technology enables a low-cost and scalable solution for the storage and access of nucleic acids. Current approaches are limited by the need for energy intensive cooling to maintain nucleic acid integrity and large warehouses with expensive robotics to efficiently access samples. Cache’s technology maintains the integrity of nucleic acids for decades at room temperature using novel materials while simultaneously allowing search and retrieval operations. The built-in proprietary barcoding strategy enables labeling and retrieval operations similar to an internet search engine.
“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 NSF has historically provided strong support of our academic research at MIT. We are grateful to the NSF for continuing to believe in our vision and providing support for our technology development as we seek to build highly valuable products for biopharma and future archival data storage applications,” said James Banal, Technical Co-Founder of Cache and Principal Investigator of the project.
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 investment or sales.
Startups or entrepreneurs who submit a written Project Pitch will know within one month if they meet the program’s objectives to support innovative technologies that show promise of commercial and/or societal impact and involve a level of technical risk. Small businesses with innovative science and technology solutions, and commercial potential are encouraged to apply. All proposals submitted to the NSF SBIR/STTR program, also known as America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, undergo a rigorous merit-based review process. To learn more about America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, visit: https://seedfund.nsf.gov/.
About Cache DNA, Inc.: A backup of the entire Internet in the size of a coffee cup? DNA preserved for millions of years in amber? Inspired by nature’s information storage medium, Cache harnesses the power of DNA with our proprietary molecular barcoding and encapsulation technology. Our mission is to store and retrieve information forever. We are building a scalable platform for handling nucleic acids that are critical to areas like biobanking, precision medicine, and biopharmaceutical library assets, in addition to massive DNA-based file systems for archival data storage.
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 that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.
