PediaMetrix has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant for $982,500 to conduct research and development (R&D) work on SoftSpot, the first smart digital tool for infants' cranial evaluation at the point of care.
This award puts PediaMetrix among top 6% of companies who make it this far and receive a Phase II SBIR award. "We are truly humbled by this recognition and continuous support by the NSF (starting from mini-i-corps and then continued by national i-corps and, SBIR Phase I)", said Dr. Reza Seifabadi, Co-founder and the Chief Operating Officer at PediaMetrix. This award will also make PediaMetrix eligible for $700,000 additional non-dilutive funding through Phase IIB and TCEP programs. "We are excited and look forward to bring SoftSpot to the market and make it available to millions of parents and physicians in the US and around the world," said Dr. Seifabadi.
Dr. Fereshteh Aalamifar founded PediaMetrix in 2018 based on a personal experience as a mom with scientists and entrepreneurs alumni of Johns Hopkins, Harvard and Princeton. PediaMetrix's first product is SoftSpot, the first smart digital tool for infant's cranial evaluation at the point of care. SoftSpot was recognized as one of the top 10 must-have apps in pediatrics at the 2018 annual gathering of American Academy of Pediatrics. In 2020, SoftSpot's Alpha version received interest from parents and pediatric providers in 8 countries, and 17 states in the US.
“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.”
Once a small business is awarded a Phase I SBIR/STTR grant (up to $256,000), it becomes eligible to apply for a Phase II grant (up to $1,000,000). To learn more about America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, visit: https://seedfund.nsf.gov/
About the National Science Foundation's Small Business Programs: NSF awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $8.1 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.
