San Diego Innovation Report

2019

Grants

Grants

Federal Research Grants — Highlights

Federal agencies significantly increased the amount of research grant money — $5.3 billion — invested into the San Diego region in 2019, up from $3.7 billion in 2018 and $2.4 billion in 2017. About 42 percent of total funding, more than $2.1 billion, goes to scientific research that provides a foundation for San Diego’s innovation economy. The major agencies that provide grant funding support to San Diego’s innovation economy are shown by the corresponding chart.

Connect 2019 San Diego Innovation Report Startup Business Federal Grant Funding by Agency

Over $92 million in Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR-STTR) grant funding was awarded to San Diego companies and institutions in 2018. This is about a $10 million increase from the $82 million awarded by the government programs in 2018.

The Department of Health and Human Services, primarily through the NIH, awarded over 50 percent of the total SBIR-STTR grants in 2019, totaling $49.3 million. This is a slight increase from the $42.5 million awarded in 2018.

The SBIR program encourages small businesses to engage in federal research/research and development (R&D) that has the potential for commercialization.

The STTR program encourages joint venture opportunities for small businesses and nonprofit research institutions.

Total NIH and NSF Grant Funding to San Diego Research Institutions and Companies: $883M
SBIR-STTR Grant Awards - San Diego County

Grants

Federal Research Grants — NIH Top Awards in California by City

San Diego county institutions and companies received more than $780 million in research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health in 2019. La Jolla ranked as the number one city in California for NIH research funding in 2019 with more than $679 million awarded. In 2019, Los Angeles ranked second with $671 million awarded, and San Francisco ranked third with $652 million awarded. In 2019, the city of San Diego ranked eighth with $89 million awarded, a significant increase from the $46 million awarded in 2018. Another $12 million in NIH research grant funding was received by companies and institutions in Carlsbad, Encinitas, Escondido, Del Mar, San Marcos, Oceanside and Cardiff.

NIH Grant Funding Awarded to California Cities in 2019 - San Diego Innovation Report

Grants

Federal Research Grants — NSF Top Awards in California by City

La Jolla ranked as the number one city in California for NSF research funding received in 2019 with $83.1 million. The city of San Diego received only $13.8 million in grant funding in 2019, a significant decrease from the $75.1 million received in 2018. An additional $6.1 million in NSF research grant funding was received by companies and institutions in Chula Vista, San Marcos, Cardiff, and Carlsbad.

NSF Grant Funding Awarded to California Cities in 2019 - San Diego Innovation Report

Grants

Federal Research Grants — Top Awards in California by Institution

UC San Diego ranked third in California for NIH funding received in 2019 with a total of $367 million awarded to researchers through 726 awards.The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla was also among the top seven California institutions with $135 million in awards. The San Diego institutions in the top 15 are highlighted in bold below. UC San Francisco ranked first in 2019 with $509 million and 826 awards.

NIH Grant Funding to Top California Institutions

Institution

Amount Awarded

City

Number of Awards

1

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO

$508,779,406

San Francisco

826

2

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

$394,846,375

Stanford

725

3

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO

$367,283,291

San Diego

726

4

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES

$358,936,545

Los Angeles

632

5

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

$208,342,298

Los Angeles

373

6

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS

$171,790,881

Davis

376

7

SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

$135,052,469

La Jolla

213

8

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY

$120,405,243

Berkeley

237

9

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE

$118,988,867

Irvine

252

10

KAISER FOUNDATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE

$77,420,862

Oakland

89

11

SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES

$71,656,725

La Jolla

90

12

CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER

$66,652,012

Los Angeles

129

13

CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

$60,345,969

Pasadena

106

14

BECKMAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE/CITY OF HOPE

$49,437,014

Duarte

110

15

SANFORD BURNHAM PREBYS MEDICAL DISCOVERY INSTITUTE

$47,918,607

La Jolla

71

Grants

Federal Research Grants — Top Awards in California by Institution

UC San Diego ranked first for NSF funding in 2019, rising from third in 2018. In 2019 UC San Diego received $62 million awarded across 113 grants. UC San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the San Diego State University Foundation were also included in the top 15 grant awarded institutions in 2019.

NSF Grant Funding to Top California Institutions

Institution Amount Awarded City Number of Awards
1 University of California-San Diego $62,883,669 San Diego 113
2 University of California-Berkeley $40,818,749 Berkeley 114
3 University of California-Irvine $40,066,931 Irvine 110
4 University of California-Los Angeles $40,029,687 Los Angeles 105
5 University of California-Santa Barbara $39,076,924 Santa Barbara 83
6 University of Southern California $36,068,780 Los Angeles 94
7 University of California-Davis $31,875,670 Davis 93
8 Stanford University $31,769,088 Stanford 83
9 California Institute of Technology $25,960,199 Pasadena 53
10 University of California-Riverside $24,470,426 Riverside 57
11 University of California-San Diego Scripps Inst of Oceanography $17,471,373 La Jolla 35
12 University of California-Santa Cruz $14,386,867 Santa Cruz 48
13 SRI International $10,537,276 Menlo Park 8
14 San Diego State University Foundation $8,696,258 San Diego 21
15 University of California – Merced $7,503,295 Merced 16 

Research Grants

Federal Grants — SBIR-STTR Awards

The SBIR program encourages small businesses to engage in federal research/research and development(R&D) that has the potential for commercialization.

The STTR program encourages joint venture opportunities for small businesses and nonprofit research institutions.

These grants provide valuable non-dilutive funding to small businesses to commercialize their research and development efforts. Both federal programs are administered by the Small Business Administration, and funded by federal agency budget allocations.

SBIR-STTR grant awards to San Diego companies and institutions in 2019 raised to $92.8 million from $82 million in 2018. The department of Health and Human Services, primarily through the NIH, awarded more than 50 percent of the total amount of SBIR-STTR grants awarded in 2019.

SBIR-STTR Awards - San Diego County Amount Awarded - San Diego Innovation Report

The number of SBIR-STTR grants awarded to San Diego companies and research institutions to San Diego companies and research institutions in 2019 decreased by one to 194 awards, from 195 awards in 2018.

SBIR-STTR Awards - San Diego County Number of Awards - San Diego Innovation Report

Research Grants

Federal Grants — Top SBIR-STTR Awards by Company

120 small businesses in San Diego County received 194 awards totaling $92.7 million in 2019. The number of companies receiving awards dropped slightly from 124 companies in 2018, and the amount awarded increased from $82 million in 2018 to $92.7 million in 2019. The top 20 awarded companies are shown below.
  Company Amount Awarded Number of Awards
1 Innoflight, Inc.  $4,549,606 6
2 NANOCOMPOSIX INC $3,676,648 7
3 Vivreon Biosciences, LLC $2,525,180 3
4 Space Micro Inc. $2,444,858 5
5 ENGINEERING AND SOFTWARE SYSTEM SOLUTIONS, INC $2,399,634 4
6 Crosslife Technologies Inc. $2,198,978 5
7 GLOBAL ALGAE INNOVATIONS, INC. $2,050,000 4
8 Diagnologix, LLC $2,000,000 1
9 SYNBAL, INC. $2,000,000 1
10 Peptide Logic LLC  $1,933,194 2
11 Aethlon Medical, Inc. $1,860,561 1
12 DIRECT ELECTRON, L.P. $1,676,323 2
13 Parabilis Space Technologies, Inc. $1,624,390 3
14 Epigen Biosciences, Inc. $1,559,437 2
15 Clostra, Inc. $1,499,994 1
16 Advanced Coherent Technologies LLC $1,499,984 1
17 NU TREK INC $1,499,900 1
18 ADVANCED BRAIN MONITORING, INC. $1,499,722 1
19 ATA Engineering, Inc. $1,474,187 6
20 ELECTRONIC BIOSCIENCES, INC. $1,427,566 3
  SBIR-STTR Activity – Top 20 Recipients in San Diego $41,400,162 59
  Total SBIR-STTR Activity – San Diego County $92,730,385 194

Source: usaspending.gov; NIH; NSF; sbir.gov; Connect

2019 San Diego Innovation Report

Previous San Diego Innovation Reports

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