The Alabama Innovation Corporation awarded two University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) start-ups with grants during the second round of Innovate Alabama Supplemental Grant awards.

The Innovate Alabama Supplemental Grant Program awards funds to Alabama-based companies that have been granted Phase I or Phase II awards through the Federal Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) or Federal Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR). 

Eligible companies can apply to receive a match of up to 50 percent of their SBIR/STTR grants. Phase I Award recipients may receive up to $100,000, while Phase II Award recipients may receive up to $250,000.

The program awarded more than $3 million in grants during this round of funding to 19 winners, five of which were in the Birmingham area.

Of those five local winners, the two UAB start-ups are:

• Adjuvax, LLC, which specializes in vaccine adjuvant discovery and development. The $100,000 Adjuvax received from Innovate Alabama will be used to develop a new adjuvant formulation for various vaccines against infectious diseases.
• Tricorder Array Technologies received $250,000 to aid in developing the PenPal, a wireless device that collects environmental and mouse squeaks in research cages, to understand the behavior and environment influence on animal studies.

Adjuvax and Tricorder Array Technologies join seven UAB start-ups that received grants from the Alabama Innovation Corporation in 2022. Those start-ups include AeroNeph Therapeutics, AI Metrics, Endomimetics, Reliant Glycosciences, SunFire Biotechnologies, Trialtus Bioscience and TruSpin Nanomaterial Innovation.