The Blazer Bridge Fund, underwritten and administered by the Bill Harbert Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HIIE), is an early-stage translational fund aiming to support the development of novel intellectual property (IP) to attract licensee interest and/or position the technology for intellectual property protection.
The Blazer Bridge Fund is slated to fund five to six projects per round at a maximum of $50,000 per project. Applications for Cohort 4 will open April 3, 2026.
Eligibility
Faculty members and staff are eligible to apply. Graduate students, medical residents, fellows, and postdocs may apply with the support of a faculty advisor or mentor.
To be eligible for the award, the applicant must submit or have previously submitted an IP disclosure covering the proposal's project. Technologies currently licensed are not eligible.
If you have issues with your submission, please contact
Terms of Award
he funds must be spent within 12 months of the award date, and a 6-month no-cost extension may be available on request. Applicants may submit multiple proposals. Any unutilized funds remaining at the end of the award period will revert to HIIE.
The Blazer Bridge Fund supports:
- Prototype or software development
- Contract work with CROs
- Wages for consultants, students, postdocs, staff
- Humanization of antibodies
- Research that leads to enhancing existing IP, including lead optimization, toxicity studies, etc.
*Please note that salary support is restricted to $15,000 per award, and no salary support for UAB faculty is allowed.
The Blazer Bridge Fund WILL NOT support:
- Publication costs
- Target discovery or high-throughput screening (HTS)
- Basic research
- Travel money
- Faculty salary
Furthermore, if the project funded by the BBF is commercialized and generates revenue, the HIIE will reimburse the BBF fund for the award amount to ensure the BBF fund's long-term sustainability.
Application, Timeline, and Evaluation Process
- Timeline:
- April 3: Applications open
- May 15: Application deadline
- June 1: Evaluation process begins
- August 28: Evaluation process ends
- September 7: Winners announced
- October 1: Beginning of award use period
- An internal committee will evaluate proposals and select 10 to 12 semifinalists.
- An external committee will evaluate all the semifinalist proposals.
- Both the internal and external committees will evaluate proposals based on the criteria listed below.
- Feedback will be provided to all applicants.
- Awardees must provide an account number within two weeks after the winners' announcement to maintain their award.
BBF Proposal Evaluation Criteria
- Project outcome
- Commercial promise
- Development status
- Approach
- Expertise
- Prospects for raising additional capital
To see the scoring sheet used to assess the proposals, click here.
Previously Successful Proposals
- Three Blazer App Accelerator participants go on to win Blazer Bridge Fund awards
- Blazer Bridge Fund continues encouraging innovative discoveries; announces 2024 winners
- Project to predict and prevent apnea in premature babies receives Blazer Bridge Fund support
- First-ever Blazer Bridge Fund grant recipients announced
- Faculty member’s Blazer Bridge Fund project aims to support classroom teachers
Apply
Applications will open Friday, April 3, 2026.
Contact
For questions about the BBF, please reach out to your Licensing Associate or send an email to