Bioscience firms can compete for grant

AURORA – Bioscience companies in Colorado are eligible to apply for a $200,000 grant from the Colorado Institute for Drug, Device and Diagnostic Development, a nonprofit group.

Companies interested in being considered must be Colorado-based and must submit application material by Tuesday, April 2. More information is online at www.cid4.com.

CID4, as the nonprofit economic development group in Aurora is called, helps bioscience companies in the state with mentoring and funding. CID4 makes grants to companies it chooses in the form of a convertible note, which is a type of bond, according to Kevin Smith, CID4’s chief executive. If and when the growing company receives venture capital or other future funding, the CID4 note is either repaid or converted into equity, Smith said.

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Sophono Inc. in Boulder has grown in recent years with funding help from CID4; the company makes a hearing aid. Flashback Technologies Inc. in Boulder also has received CID4 funding; the company makes a monitor to measure blood loss from traumatic injury. Sophono has repaid its CID4 note. Flashback has not yet repaid its note, Smith said.

CID4 operates with annual funds from the state of Colorado, which vary from year to year, as well as other funding, Smith said. This year’s budget is $900,000, with $700,000 from a program run through the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and International Trade and $200,000 from Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority in Aurora.

In all, CID4 has committed $1.65 million to six companies so far, including the two in Boulder, according to a press statement. Those companies have created an estimated 65 jobs and have raised more than $22 million in additional investment, according to the press statement.