Three local startups receive half million in Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation Funding

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 | Source: Soapbox

Three local startups have received over $500,000 in Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation Funding.

Local startups are receiving both attention and money from a state agency geared at spurring innovation and development. Three Northern Kentucky startups, Bexion Pharmaceuticals, Edunet24 and Clinical Engineering Consultants, received a total of more than $500,000 in funding from the Kentucky Science and Technology’s Corporation (KSTC).

KSTC is an agency of the Kentucky Cabinet of Economic Development.

Bexion Pharmaceuticals, located in Covington, KY is committed to developing cures for a broad range of cancers. The companies three main development interests include: Oncology therapeutics, Oncology diagnostics and Nucleic acid delivery. The company received a $400,000 matching grant for its “A Novel Biotherapeutic Treatment for Pancreatic Cancer” initiative. The grant will match funds Bexion received from the National Institutes of Health.

Clinical Engineering Consultants, Inc., in Erlanger, Ky. received a $30,000 grant for technology management software that will aid nearly 400 hospital, ambulatory surgery center and medical center clients. Clinical Engineering plans to develop the software with Northern Kentucky University’s College of Informatics and the University Research Foundation.

In the education sector, Edunet24, also in Erlanger, is an online homework help website aimed at improving student performance. The company was awarded $100,000 to develop an integrated competency-based learning system to allow non-native, English-speaking students to improve their English with an individualized plan.

The companies were aided in applying for the grants through the Northern Kentucky ezone, a division of Northern Kentucky Tri-Ed. The ezone is one of six regional Innovation and Commercialization Centers across Kentucky.

“The ezone is an important resource for entrepreneurs and is helping start-up companies access funding opportunities available through the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation,” said Tom Prewitt, head of the ezone Entrepreneurship committee. “We are known as an innovative and supportive region that fosters the growth of these types of companies in Northern Kentucky.”