Project Grant 1831538

This $649,999 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program supports Farmsense, Inc., a self-certified small disadvantaged business, in developing novel sensor technologies for precise insect pest monitoring and surveillance in agricultural settings. The project aims to create a system inspired by how bats detect and discriminate between different insects, allowing for tracking of insect pests down to the...

Biomilitus LLC received a $254,689 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation on February 1, 2021 to optimize black soldier fly genetics and husbandry for industrialization of organic waste biocnversion. The award was made under the NSF's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), which seeks to improve quality of life and economic strength through engineering research and education. Specifically, the nine-month project focused on developing and refining techniques for breeding black...

Field Data Services LLC was awarded a $165,685 Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212). The funding will support a Phase I SBIR project to determine the technical feasibility of using newly available light detection and ranging (LiDAR) on a chip technology to detect insect pollinators and characterize...

Agrospheres, Inc. received a $1.5 million cooperative agreement award from the National Science Foundation under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships federal grant program (CFDA 47.084) to develop a novel pest management solution for control of fall armyworm. The four-year award, issued on September 1, 2021 with a completion date of August 31, 2025, will support Agrosphere's efforts to deliver bioengineered dsRNA particles targeting fall armyworm using its proprietary bioparticle...

This SBIR Phase I project, awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program (CFDA 47.084), aims to develop a novel platform for accelerating the strain development process for precision fermentation. The $275,000 grant, awarded on January 15, 2025, will fund the recipient, Terraferma Foods, Inc., to leverage machine learning and experimental biology to enhance the industrial-scale production of animal proteins in yeast. The project...

Just Greens LLC, doing business as Aerofarms, received a $594,974 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program. The award funds research into implementing ratooning, a proven technique allowing one root and stem system to produce multiple harvests, in the indoor production of leafy greens. Phase I of the project studied...

Lateralsystems LLC received a $181,650 Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture to develop a smart farming platform for indoor agriculture. Specifically, the company will test and evaluate an open-source software framework to determine its feasibility for commercializing a product and services that integrate relevant sensors and fuse disparate datasets to aid farmers in improving indoor...

Cooperative Agreement Summary Kansas State University received a $1,999,946 Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) under the Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care program (CFDA 10.025), awarded February 2, 2026, with completion targeted for February 1, 2029. The award funds the development of an innovative edible insect larvae-based vaccine against Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) designed for...

The National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded $175,000 under the Small Business Innovation Research Program to Gearjump Technologies LLC from July 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023. The funding supports development of the Remote Autonomous Detection System, a novel surveillance platform to cost-effectively detect the invasive Red Imported Fire Ant species. The platform integrates microfluidics, electronics, and digital algorithms to autonomously attract, capture, and positively identify fire...

This Project Grant award, titled "INSECT: Insects for a Sustainable Environment and Circular Bioeconomy", is funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Global Centers Program under CFDA 47.079 - Office of International Science and Engineering. The $1,999,915 award, granted on May 1, 2025, supports a 3-year interdisciplinary research initiative to develop sustainable solutions for feed and food production rooted in insect-based biomanufacturing practices. The project aims to...