IDEM Systems Awarded $750,000 Competitive Grant from the National Science Foundation
Orlando, Fla. (November 10, 2020) – Following a successful Phase I period of its grant, IDEM Systems has advanced to Phase II of its National Science Foundation grant to bring its drug identification technology to market.
The Phase II grant brings with it nearly $750,000 in additional funding for the local company.
Using technology licensed from the University of Central Florida, IDEM Systems’ mission is to help law enforcement combat the illegal drug epidemic that is killing nearly 70,000 people per year in the U.S.
Using safe, reliable, affordable, technologically-advanced tools, the system will identify specific narcotic substances on-site and help law enforcement to reduce the presence of dangerous illegal drugs in their respective communities by providing cloud-based tools for tracking illegal drug activity.
“We are grateful to have received a second phase of funding from the NSF to continue our work in assisting U.S. drug law enforcement to thwart the drug and opioid epidemic facing our nation,” says David Nash, CEO, IDEM Systems. “Our primary goal is to provide police agencies a new means for reliably identifying illegal drugs in our communities, but more importantly, keeping these drugs out of our communities.”
With the new funding, this brings total funding from NSF towards this technology to more than $1.2 million. Research grants have also been awarded on this technology by the National Institute of Justice.
NSF accepts Phase I proposals from small businesses throughout the year in four different submission windows. Small businesses with innovative science and technology solutions, and commercial potential are encouraged to submit a project pitch. All proposals submitted to the NSF SBIR/STTR program undergo a rigorous merit-based review process.
“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.”
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For more information media should contact –
IDEM Systems: David Nash, CEO, david.nash@idemsystems.com
UCF Business Incubation Program: Carol Ann Dykes Logue, 407-635-9882, carolann.dykeslogue@ucf.edu or Alan Byrd, Alan Byrd & Associates, 407-415-8470, Alan@ByrdConnections.com
About IDEM Systems: IDEM Systems’ mission is to help law enforcement combat the illegal drug epidemic that is killing over 70,000 people per year in the US. Our system will revolutionize field drug testing. IDEM Systems’ technology will provide law enforcement agencies with affordable technologically-advanced tools that are safe and easy to use by police officers to rapidly and reliably identify illegal drugs in the field. Our software solution will not only help police analyze unknown drug samples but could reduce the presence of dangerous illegal drugs in our communities by providing police agencies with cloud-based tools for tracking illegal drug activity. For more information, please visit idemsystems.com
About the UCF Business Incubation Program: The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth/impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has provided vital business development resources resulting in over 300 local startup companies reaching their potential faster and graduating into the community where they continue to grow and positively impact the local economy.
With seven facilities throughout the region, the UCF Business Incubation Program is an economic development partnership between the University of Central Florida, the Corridor, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the cities of Kissimmee, Orlando and Winter Springs. For the 2017/2018 fiscal years, the activities of these participating firms have helped to sustain more than 6,725 local jobs and have had a cumulative impact of over $725 million on regional GDP and over $1.3 billion on regional sales. During the same period, the program has returned more than $12.00 in state and local taxes for every $1.00 invested in the program. In addition, for every $1.00 of public investment the firms also produced $118 of additional regional GDP and $226 of regional sales. For more information, visit www.incubator.ucf.edu.
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 $1.5 million in non-dilutive funds 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 $8.1 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. For more information, visit seedfund.nsf.gov
