Lebanon accelerator wins $50,000 in SBA competition

New England Pediatric Device Consortium provides commercialization support, services

The Lebanon-based New England Pediatric Device Consortium, a nonprofit foundation supported by the Food and Drug Administration to promote commercialization of safe and effective technologies for pediatric clinical care, has been awarded $50,000 to promote small business startups through the third annual Growth Accelerator Fund Competition.

The competition was conducted through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Investment and Innovation. All told, there 68 winners.

Richard Greenwald, co-director, said the award will help the consortium’s efforts to provide “commercialization support and in-kind services to small businesses in New Hampshire and across the country in the pediatric medical device space.”

He said many of he consortium’s clients use its services to better prepare for an SBIR or STTR submission. “We accelerate their overall commercialization readiness, and the SBA funds provided here allow us to further expand our offerings,” said Greenwald.

The SBA said its competition is aimed at drawing attention and funding to parts of the country where there are gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Collectively, the accelerators were awarded a total of $3.4 million in 32 states and the District of Columbia.

According to the SBA, the federal government made 81 awards totaling $47,868,276 to 27 small businesses in New Hampshire in the 2015 fiscal year.