Innovate Alabama Awards $3.3 million to 20 Alabama Companies Advancing Innovation

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. [MAY 30, 2025] — Innovate Alabama has awarded more than $3.3 million in SBIR/STTR supplemental grants to 20 small businesses across the state, empowering them to scale cutting-edge technologies, create jobs and deepen their roots in Alabama. These awards are part of Innovate Alabama’s ongoing mission to support entrepreneurs through strategic funding and foster a thriving innovation ecosystem statewide. 

The Innovate Alabama Supplemental Grant Program provides non-dilutive funding to companies that have previously received federal SBIR or STTR grants, helping bridge the gap between research and commercialization. With this latest round, Innovate Alabama has now invested more than $17 million across 82 small businesses since the program’s inception. 

“By providing follow-on capital through our Supplemental Grant Program, we’re equipping Alabama’s most promising startups with the resources needed to take their innovations to market,” said Cynthia Crutchfield, CEO of Innovate Alabama. “These investments are driving job creation, attracting additional external capital into Alabama, advancing research and technology, and securing Alabama’s place as a competitive hub for innovation.” 

The funding enables small businesses to expand operations, hire talent and continue developing transformative technologies across sectors such as biotechnology, aerospace, energy, advanced manufacturing and more. 

The 20 recipients include:  

• Accelerate Wind, Inc, Birmingham: Specializes in wind energy and is helping building owners move towards net zero energy, with an affordable wind turbine that installs on the edges of building roofs. 

• Applied Technology Solutions, Inc, Huntsville: Specializes in hypersonic technologies including advanced materials, hypersonic environments and ground test design. 

• Aqueous Resources LLC, Bessemer: Specializes in extraction of lithium from brine fluids. It was awarded a US patent in November 2024 and is working with several multi-billion-dollar energy firms to optimize sustainable lithium extraction. 

• Canairy LLC, Birmingham: Specializes in developing innovative wearable devices to track environmental exposure and evaluate respiratory and overall health. 

• Cosmic Shielding Corporation, Huntsville: Specializes in providing radiation shielding technologies for commercial and government space systems. 

• Eikon Research, Inc, Huntsville: Specializes in advanced radar technology, including digital radar design, radar operational software, firmware, modeling & simulation, and UI development. 

• Forsee, LLC, Prattville: Specializes in developing sustainable, fire-resistant materials from natural fibers. 

• Hybird Space Systems, Huntsville: Specializes in developing advanced, affordable rocket propulsion technologies for space exploration, national security and commercial aerospace applications. 

• Hyperion Aerospace, Huntsville: Specializes in developing green thruster technology for spacecraft, missile defense and satellites. 

• KODA Technologies, Huntsville: Specializes in weapon system development – from hands-on engineering to executive leadership. The company solves problems and develops highly technical products for the Department of Defense and NASA. 

• Mathinvestments, Inc, Huntsville: Specializes in capturing return premiums associated with investing in individual businesses by utilizing proprietary financial models. 

• Moremme VA LLC, Birmingham: Specializes in developing hormone-free, scientifically designed natural product solutions for the intimate care health and wellness needs of women. 

• nou Systems, Inc, Huntsville: The nou Systems (nSI) mission is to develop products and provide services essential to solving our customers’ most difficult, urgent and demanding technical problems. 

• Spearstone Solutions, LLC, Birmingham: Specializes in transforming waste such as synthetic gypsum and coal ash into valuable products by extracting contaminants and rare earth elements, then converting them to high-purity products. 

• SSS Optical Technologies, LLC, Huntsville: Specializes in optical nanomaterials. SSSOT and Oakwood University develop Polymer Anti-damage Nanocomposite Down-converting Armor (PANDA) coating to replace cover glass. 

• Symphony Biosciences, Inc, Birmingham: Specializes in developing innovative biomaterials that enhance immune responses against cancer, advancing next-generation immunotherapies to improve patient outcomes. 

• Tellus1 Scientific, LLC, Huntsville: Specializes in advanced optical sensing and measurement, particularly system engineering, modeling and analysis of optics and sensors for space telescopes used in astronomy and remote sensing. 

• VETS LLC, Madison: Specializes in developing digital threads and digital twins, Nuclear Surety, Cybersecurity, System Safety, Test Engineering, Systems Engineering, Program Management, Training Development and Product Support. 

• XO Armor Technologies Inc, Auburn: Specializes in providing technology to 3D print custom protective devices (e.g., splints, braces). The supplemental funding from Innovate Alabama will be used to expand the solution for rural healthcare clinics. 

To learn more about the Innovate Alabama Supplemental Grant Program and other Innovate Alabama initiatives, visit www.innovatealabama.org.