MITO Material Solutions Awarded Grant
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
STILLWATER, Okla. – MITO Material Solutions has been awarded a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research grant for $224,988 to conduct research and development work on a nano-additive that doubles the interlaminar toughness of composite materials utilized in aerospace, recreation and automotive industries.
MITO was founded in 2016 by Kevin and Haley Keith through a class project at Oklahoma State University. Haley was pursuing her master’s in business administration at OSU at the time and was involved in the Creativity Innovation and Entrepreneurship Scholars Program. This program pairs MBA students with STEM students to create a business plan for commercializing technology at OSU. Kevin was pursuing his degree in mechanical engineering technology at OSU.
The two chose to pursue an additive developed in OSU’s Helmerich Research Center in Tulsa by Dr. Ranji Vaidyanathan, MITO co-PI and material science and engineering professor at OSU-Tulsa. This NSF grant will help create two engineering positions at inception and help MITO grow to a predicted 200 employees within five to seven years.
“The National Science Foundation supports small business with the most innovative, cutting-edge ideas that have the potential to become great commercial successes and make huge societal impacts,” said Barry Johnson, director of the NSF’s division of industrial innovation and partnership. “We hope that this seed funding will spark solutions to some of the most important challenges of our time across all areas of science and technology.”
Once a small business is awarded a Phase I SBIR/STTR grant, it becomes eligible to apply for a Phase II grant worth up to $750,000. Small business with Phase II grants are eligible to receive up to $500,000 in additional matching funds with qualifying third-party investment or sales.
“We’re thrilled to get this prestigious award from the NSF,” said Richard Gajan, CEO of MITO. “This grant will help MITO grow and commercialize as we move forward with more advanced testing. We’re very excited about the future that is ahead of us.”
Previously, MITO has been awarded $161,000 in grants through business competitions. For more information about MITO, visit mitomaterials.com. For more information about the NSF program, visit nsf.gov/SBIR.
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