30-May-2025
Jurgen Zach, PhD
The material in this presentation and any narrative delivered along with it is based on our experience
working with startups and other small enterprises over the past decode, and what has mostly proven
successful for them (and what has not). Nothing presented constitutes legal-, accounting-, or financial
advice, and Ekvacio or its affiliates assume no responsibility for any party following the recommendations in
this presentation without consulting an appropriate legal or accounting professional. There is no recipe for
starting a business, or for applying for non-dilutive funding that guarantees success – any venture can fail,
and any application for funding can be rejected, no matter how well planned and executed they are.
Minimum Viable Company.
Positioning yourself.
Bootstrap to fundability.
Outsourcing.
Patents on a budget.
Grant funding.
International partnerships.
Minimum Viable Company.
Positioning yourself.
Bootstrap to fundability.
Outsourcing.
Patents on a budget.
Grant funding.
International partnerships.
All of these apply:
 Technology-based in the widest sense
 Novelty in at least one aspect (product
itself, or at least application)
 Scalable
 Impacts the national or world economy,
provides social benefits
 Potentially fundable: new medical or
electronic device, new-to-world product
 Not fundable: medical clinics or engineering
consulting firms, better-quality or less
expensive version of existing products
Alternative pathways to entrepreneurship
 Redesign and sell existing products,
leverage globalized supply chain (contracts
manufacturers, online retailers)
 Reverse engineer and improve existing apps
 Skilled professional services
 Low-entry barriers:
 Medical or dental practice
 Law- or accounting office
 Insurance agency
 Real estate agency
Company formation
 Required for non-dilutive funding: properly formed company in any US State
 Most early-stage companies start as LLCs
 Choice of jurisdiction:
 Single member LLC (other team members are employees)
 LLC partnership (proportional taxation/distribution of profits)
 Regulatory advantages in Delaware, New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming
 No requirement for headquarters or operations located in state if formation!
 Caveat: depending on the state, you may have to register as a “foreign” entity in the state you operate
 States with strict “foreign entity” reporting rules: California, Texas, New York, …
 Out-of-state friendly: Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, ….
 “Single proprietorships” not recommended
Company formation
S-Corp (tax status)
C-Corp
LLC
Feature
Pass-through
Corporate + dividend
tax
Pass-through (default)
Taxation
≤100 U.S.
shareholders
Unlimited
Unlimited
Owner Limits
One class only
Multiple allowed
N/A (no stock)
Stock Classes
No self employment
tax
Profits remain in
company
Very low formation
cost
Advantages
Not suitable for
venture funding
Administrative and
legal cost
Least tax-optimized
for profitable
companies
Disadvantages
Domestic small
business
Companies seeking
venture funding
Early-stage startups
Ideal for:
Most States
Nevada
New Mexico
Wyoming
Delaware
Feature / State
Yes
Yes
No
No
No (on formation
docs)
Member Names
Required?
Yes
(name/address
disclosure)
Yes (detailed +
business license)
None
Yes (simple, $60)
Yes (minimal
info, $300 tax)
Annual Report
Filing?
Often
discouraged or
restricted
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Can Use Nominee
Managers?
Weak or unclear
Strong
Strong
Strong
Not guaranteed
Protection from
Creditors
Yes (most states)
No
Yes
No
No (pass-
throughs exempt)
State Income Tax
(on LLCs)?
Poor privacy in
most cases
Good privacy,
but higher costs
Max privacy, no
annual reports
Best mix of
privacy & cost
Strong legal
framework
Use for Privacy-
Focused Startups
Operating
companies with local
presence
High-asset
protection, strong
entities
Holding companies,
privacy-first
Asset protection,
stealth startups
VC-backed C-corps,
legal flexibility
Ideal Use Cases
Requirements/strong recommendations
 EIN (“tax ID number”): free and instantaneous through IRS
 Registered agent services (required if registrations outside your home state)
 Business checking account
 Digital presence
 Insurance
 Easiest for early stage/pre-revenue: Novo, Bluevine, … (no monthly fees, set up in <1 day)
 Startups with substantial revenue: regional/national bank or credit union advantageous
 E.g.: Northwest Registered agent: strong privacy protection, from $75/year
 WWW domain registration, presentable hosted website (Hostinger, Ionos, Bluehost, ….)
 Company emails (Gmail, yahoo, etc. appear unprofessional)
 Social media (LinkedIn, industry-related sites)
 Liability situations or if you have capital assets: business insurance – may be required by B2B customers
 If you have W-2 employees: workers’ compensation insurance (Texas only state where it’s optional)
Minimum Viable Company.
Positioning yourself.
Bootstrap to fundability.
Outsourcing.
Patents on a budget.
Grant funding.
International partnerships.
Employees Contractors
 Prepared to become employees
(W-2 tax status) once funded
 2:1 ratio technical : non-technical
recommended
 Range of skillsets/experience
 Existing employment relationship not required
when fundraising!
 Signed agreement/memo of understanding
recommended.
 No need for full-time employment or benefits!
 Covering requirements of projects you seek to
fund: diversity of skillsets, years of experience!
 For tech-heavy startups: graduate degrees or
equivalent experience advantageous
 Recommended mainly for “one-off” contributions,
employees preferred for core company operations
 More documentation requirements in grant applications
than for employees!
 Limited to 1/3 of direct costs by most grants
 Can be companies or natural persons (or single-member
LLCs) – 1099 tax status
Advisors
 Technical, financial, legal, management experts –
personal connections or equity compensation
 Positions in academia, major industry players, public
sector – careful with politics!
 Examples: incubator/accelerator advisors, former college
advisors, supervisors in past employment, patent attorneys
Team composition
 Minimum team:
 Physical/
medical
products:
“Pure” software or simpler products
 Early-stage (Phase I): 2 technical & 1 non-technical
 Later-stage (Phase II): 3-4 technical & ~2 non-
technical
Early-stage (Phase I):
 Engineering: 1 hardware & 1 software
 Domain scientist/clinician: 1-2 specialists
 Non-technical: 1 project manager, 1 domain expert
Device team
 Sensor technologist (CTO)
 Embedded engineer
 Mechanical engineer
 PhD, Physics - 10 years of experience
 Medical sensor & algorithm
 MS, Electrical Engineering – 12 yrs exp
 Electronics & Firmware
 MS, Mechanical Engineering – 6 yrs exp
 3D printing, design engineering
Outsourced: contractors
 App development (Android)
 Cloud-based backend development
 ← future hiring plans
Management team
 Manager (CEO)
 Medical Sales
 MBA, 10 years of experience in corporate finance
 Co-performs CFO and legal compliance functions
 Industry veteran in medical device marketing & sales
 Independent agent, but has stake in company
Medical science team
 Clinical applications
 Clinical science
 MD, General Practitioner,
actively practicing for 5 years
 Specialized medical doctor
 Clinical professor
Outsourced:
 Pre-approvals:
prepare for FDA trial
(consulting
company)
Company startup and operations are not fundable by grants:
 Business Formation & Assembling Team
 Facilities (if required) and (initially) Durable Equipment
 Early version of your product
 Nice-to-haves: early sales, “paid prototypes”
 Business Plan, Customer Discovery
Company startup and operations not fundable by grants:
 Business Formation & Assembling Team
 Facilities (if required) and Durable Equipment
 Early version of your product
 Nice-to-haves: early sales, “paid prototypes”
 Business Plan, Customer Discovery
(Grant) funding for projects:
 Technical merit: new ideas!
 Commercial merit: scalable!
 Projects deemed to risky by private investors
 Increase venture fundability of company
 Benefits: impact on nation & world
(Grant) funding for projects:
 Technical merit: new ideas!
 Commercial merit: scalable!
 Projects deemed to risky by private investors
 Increase venture fundability of company
 Benefits: impact on nation & world
Company startup and operations not fundable by grants:
 Business Formation & Assembling Team
 Facilities (if required) and Durable Equipment
 Early version of your product
 Nice-to-haves: early sales, “paid prototypes”
 Business Plan, Customer Discovery
 Scalable product
 Technical/scientific impact
 New markets
Minimum Viable Company.
Positioning yourself.
Bootstrap to fundability.
Outsourcing.
Patents on a budget.
Grant funding.
International partnerships.
Foundations for Founders
 Financial resources needed: ~$5-100k /year disposable income pre-revenue
 Education and work experience
 Qualifications across multiple skill sets, verifiable (product launches, publications, patents, ….)
 Graduate degrees or equivalent experience VERY helpful for grants
 Prior experience in multiple companies, including startups, helpful
 Contacts across the industry served
 Company formation & maintenance, including accounting: $2k / year
 Tools & equipment: from $1-5k/yr for software startups to >$10-20k/yr for electronics/hardware startups
 Sourcing tip: University Surplus Sales for professional decommissioned equipment from 1% of new kit!
 Travel: $0-10,000/year to attend conferences, industry meetings
 Business insurance (if needed): from ~$1k/yr – $(LOTS)k/yr!
 “Facilities”: co-working spaces from ~1k/yr, garage converted to a lab
Foundations for Founders
 Personal situations
 Starting a company while working a “day job”
 Check non-compete-, invention assignment-, and the law in your home state!
 California: non-competes and many invention assignment agreements are null and void! An employer CANNOT
stop you from starting a company on the side, develop products and keep the intellectual property.
 Other “friendly” states: North Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota (also, mostly: Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Illinois)
 High enforceability of non-competes: Texas, Florida, Virginia, Ohio, ….
 Bring family/significant other on board!!! Reduced time & disposable income for years to come
 Combination of energy and experience. The average age of a successful founder is 45!
 Plan to answering emails and calls on weekends and vacations!
Minimum Viable Company.
Positioning yourself.
Bootstrap to fundability.
Outsourcing.
Patents on a budget.
Grant funding.
International partnerships.
Missing an AI component in your proposal is a disadvantage!
 New partnership with DigiTranIn
 Access to experienced
developers in India and the US
 Helping you add an AI
component to your non-IT
startup
DigiTranIn offers scalable, affordable software development services designed
specifically for startups. Whether you're building an MVP or scaling fast, our team
acts as your agile tech partner—committed to speed, quality, and transparency.
We build your software so that you can take over anytime—fully or partially—
with clean, well-documented code and open collaboration. Whether you
continue with us or bring development in-house, you're always in control.
DigiTranIn will accelerate
your development
Build now. Scale later. Without burning cash.
Get behind the wheel anytime!
Broad and deep experience
Web App Development Mobile App Development Cloud Solutions Cyber Security
ERP Application Development
Internet of Things
AI/ML
VR/AR
Tech Stack
Digitranin = Infra That Grows With You
Core value prop: DigiTranIn offers affordable data, ML, and DevOps solutions for early-
stage teams, with a path to scale as you grow.
• Basic: Bootstrap Tier ( ) - Ideal for pre-seed/seed. Flat-rate pricing, basic ETL, one model
deployed, light ops.
• Intermediate: Growth Tier ( )Adds monitoring, analytics stack, CI/CD automation
• Advanced: Scale Tier ( )Full MLOps, cross-cloud resilience, live support
• Stress: Digitran is an investment, not a vendor pitch!!!
Startup-First Service Tiers
Lay out flexible offerings tailored to teams focused on preserving cash:
Case Study Snapshots
Lay out flexible offerings tailored to teams focused on preserving cash:
*ETL: Extract, Transform, Load (Data Warehousing)
Case Study Snapshots
Lay out flexible offerings tailored to teams focused on preserving cash:
*ETL: Extract, Transform, Load (Data Warehousing)
Engagement Models: Fast, Flexible, Cost-Aligned
Show how teams can start small and expand easily:
Custom
Engagements
Project:
Startup in the energy space that was scaling rapidly,
especially among its customer-facing employees: custom
ERP with HR module built first.
Our Solution:
An easy-to-use ERP system with core modules including:
• Employee Management: Centralized employee data
• Attendance & Leave Tracker: Simple request and
approval workflows
• Payroll Management: Automated salary and pay slip
generation
• HR Dashboard: Reports on attendance, turnover,
etc.
ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning
ERP - Attendance Tracking
Roadmap (Phase 2):
• Biometric integration
• Performance evaluations
• Employee self-service portal
• Policy and document
management
Additional Use Cases:
Startups, SMEs, Educational
Institutions, Healthcare Providers
Medicare insights - MVP
Project:
Empower smaller clinics or regional health systems leverage insights
from Medicare and other electronic health records while complying with
HIPAA regulations and managing beneficiary access authorizations.
Our Solution:
• An interactive dashboard for:
• Data-driven decision-making
• Real-time and historical analysis
AI-powered forecasting (future roadmap)
Medicare insights - MVP
A healthcare analytics tool designed to help healthcare providers gain
insights into patient trends, treatment costs, and disease patterns through
real-time and historical data analysis.
Medicare insights - MVP
Medicare insights - MVP
Key Features:
• Dynamic filters: disease type, age, gender, region
• Spend analysis: monthly/annual breakdowns
• Patient trend monitoring
• Regional comparisons
• Interactive charts and reports
Roadmap (Phase 2):
• AI-based trend prediction
• Electronic health records
Target Users:
Hospitals, Clinics, Insurance Providers, Healthcare Researchers
Medicare insights - MVP
Let’s Build What Matters, Not Overhead
“Your product is the rocket. We’re
your launchpad.”
Startup-aligned differentiators
 Ekvacio is acting as US based partner
 Package deals with grant consulting
 MVP with AI in the $X,000 range!
Minimum Viable Company.
Positioning yourself.
Bootstrap to fundability.
Outsourcing.
Patents on a budget.
Grant funding.
International partnerships.
Provisional patents – USPTO’s best idea!
 Early Protection: filing secures a priority date for 12 months while you develop or fundraise.
 Low Cost, No Claims Needed. Cheaper and simpler than a full patent; no formal claims required, but
the invention should be well described (“enabling” for skilled persons to replicate).
 No Extensions. You must file a non-provisional patent within 12 months or lose your rights.
 No Public Disclosure First: File before showing or selling your invention—especially important for
international protection.
 “Patent Pending” Status allowed.
 Interested? Contact us (contact@ekvacio.com) or our partners at Ingenium Patents
(peter@ingeniumpatents.com)
Minimum Viable Company.
Positioning yourself.
Bootstrap to fundability.
Outsourcing.
Patents on a budget.
Grant funding.
International partnerships.
PHASE I
 Proof of Concept
 3 – 24 months (9-12 typ.)
 ~$75,000 - $400,000 ($300k typ.)
PHASE II
 Scalable Product Development
 12 - 36 months (24 typ.)
 $750,000 – $3M (1.25M-2M typ.)
PHASE III
 Commercialization – Varied
(usually needs matching
private investment)
Phase I + Phase II
6-18 mos 12-24 mos
$305K $1.25M
Phase I + Phase II
6-24 mos 12-36 mos
$315-400K $2.1M
Phase I Feasibility study
 Proof-of-concept/Feasibility
 High-risk R&D
Phase II R&D WORK
 Further DEVS to advance
toward commercial
deployment
Evaluation Criteria
Intellectual Merit
High-risk, innovative R&D
Commercial Potential
Scalable products
Broader Impact
Impact on trajectory of your
industry and the world
 Advanced Manufacturing (M)
 Advanced Materials (AM)
 Advanced Systems for Scalable
Analytics (AA)
 Agricultural Technologies (AG)
 Artificial Intelligence (AI)
 Augmented Virtual and Mixed
Reality (AV/VR/MR)
 Biological Technologies (BT)
 Biomedical Technologies (BM)
 Chemical Technologies (CT)
 Cloud and High-Performance
Computing (CH)
 Cybersecurity and
Authentication (CA)
 Digital Health (DH)
 Distributed Ledger (DL)
 Energy Technologies (EN)
 Environmental Technologies (ET)
 Human-Computer Interaction
(HC)
 Instrumentation and Hardware
Systems (IH)
 Internet of Things (I)
 Learning and Cognition
Technologies (LC)
 Medical Devices (MD)
 Mobility (MO)
 Nanotechnology (N)
 Other Topics (OT)
 Pharmaceutical Technologies
(PT)
 Photonics (PH)
 Power Management (PM)
 Quantum Information
Technologies (QT)
 Robotics (R)
 Semiconductors (S)
 Space (SP)
 Wireless Technologies (W)
Proposal Structure (Phase I)
Key Evaluation Criteria
(Unofficial but Crucial!)
 Project Description: Main document.
Technically dense, 15 pages, equivalent
to peer-reviewed publication!
 Budget & Justification: Following
regulations on salary, subcontractors,
equipment vs supplies: 5 pages.
 Biographical Sketches: PI & Project
Employees, max 3 pages each.
 Facilities & Resources: Lab, equipment
details.
 Several misc. documents
 Support Docs: Quotes, Letters of Support,
Data Management Plan, …
 Innovation: NSF prioritizes novel R&D over
routine development (especially Phase I).
 Scientific Quality: High-level project description,
like a peer-reviewed paper.
 Team Expertise: Strong academic and
technical background.
 Business Plan: Clear path to market viability.
 Partnership: Strong letters of support from
Customers / Investors / Technical Authorities.
 Facilities: Access to labs, tools, and resources.
 National Eye Institute (NEI)
 National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute (NHLBI)
 National Human Genome
Research Institute (NHGRI)
 National Institute on Aging (NIA)
 National Institute on Alcohol
Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
 National Institute of Biomedical
Imaging and Bioengineering
(NIBIB)
 Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute of Child Health and
Human Development (NICHD)
 National Institute on Deafness
and Other Communication
Disorders (NIDCD)
 National Institute of Diabetes
and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases (NIDDK)
 National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences
(NIEHS)
 National Institute of Mental
Health (NIMH)
 National Institute of Nursing
Research (NINR)
 National Institute on Minority
Health and Health Disparities
(NIMHD)
 National Library of Medicine
(NLM)
 National Center for
Complementary and
Integrative Health (NCCIH)
 National Cancer Institute (NCI)
 National Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA) Office of Research on
Women's Health (ORWH)
Ekvacio’s in-house survey (National Science
Foundation):
• 1,378 NSF grants canceled
• 45 grants from “Technology, Innovation, Partnerships”
• “TIP” includes SBIR
Canceled non-academic grants: only 10!
• PHARMACOUSTICS TECHNOLOGIES LLC
• Mozilla Foundation
• LEARNING NETWORK, LLC, THE
• CLAUDIUS LEGAL INTELLIGENCE INC
• CHANGE AERIAL LLC
• INA SOLUTIONS INC.
• MYVILLAGE PROJECT INC
• SMART GIRLS HQ LLC
• EDNA INC.
• LISA FITZPATRICK & ASSOCIATES MD PC
<0.1% of canceled grants are for-profit, non-
academic!
EDU: Education
SBE: Social/Behavioral/Economic
GEO: Geosciences
BIO: Biological Sciences
ENG: Engineering
CISE: Computer & Information Sciences
MPS: Math & Physical Sciences
TIP: Technology, Innovation,
Partnerships (these include SBIR)
Tangible changes:
• Limitation in “indirect cost rate” to 15%
→ No changes to for-profit applicants
• Overall for-profit funding budget unchanged!
→ Funding by SBA, not NSF, NIH, etc!
• Staffing cuts at NSF, NIH, NOAA, ….
→ Trend towards faster processing stops
“Cultural” trends:
• 180° change in impact priorities
→ Social & environmental
• New brand of “Political Correctness”
→ Superficially applied – “trigger words”
• Recommended: focus on economics & security
→ Cost savings, economic impact
→ Domestic impact trumps global impact
Positive trend:
• Blockchain/distributed ledger
• Nuclear Renaissance
• Artificial Intelligence
Decline:
• Traditional renewables (solar, wind, etc)
• Infectious diseases, public health
• “Social entrepreneurship”
No change:
• Most medical topics
• Most of space & defense
Our terms:
Combination of Startup Fee and
Success-Based Fee.
“Standard” grants (SBIR, STTR):
Startup Fee is only 5%.
Private foundations, ARPA-H,
BARDA, etc: Startup Fee is 10%.
100% confidentiality assured (if
you want us to be)
We will enter an NDA anytime!
We only work with companies we
think can win a grant!
Fundability consulting
Grant generation and submission
Domestic writing teams!
• 100% grad school education
• Master’s, PhDs, Postdocs
• Science, engineering, computer science
• Subject matter experts
• Candidates for recruiting!
Simple-fee provisional patent (through
lawfirm partnership - coming soon!)
Accessing international ecosystems,
inbound and outbound (coming soon)
Do-it-yourself (Phase I):
CASH BURN: $37,000
Engineering time: 30 per diems @ $600 a
day: $18,000
Administrative time: 20 per diems @ $500
a day: $10,000
Legal & accounting: $4,000
Total direct labor cost: $32,000
Overhead (15%): $5,000
Total cash: $37,000
TIME / RUNWAY:
1/2 of your engineering team spends 3
months writing a grant: loss of 1-2 months
of runway
Ekvacio (Phase I):
CASH EXPENSE:
Startup fee: $3,000
TIME / RUNWAY:
Weekly email updates/reviews
~1 hr/week of meetings
UNIQUE BENEFITS:
Increased odds to win grant
Grant portfolio: multiple grants in
parallel
Has your grant been rejected due to the federal
government’s revised policies?
• Free review of rejected grant applications.
• For grants with sufficient merit, we offer revision and
resubmission without retainer!
Public endorsements.
• Published referrals: 50% discount on retainer and success fee
• Publication rights of rejected grant applications: refund of 50-100%
of retainer!
• Permission to use accepted proposals as templates: reduction of
success fee by up to 50%!
Referrals.
• $5,000 bonus for referrals of clients resulting in any successful
grant application!
 Email: contact@ekvacio.com
Minimum Viable Company.
Positioning yourself.
Bootstrap to fundability.
Outsourcing.
Patents on a budget.
Grant funding.
International partnerships.
Eligibility Requirements
Ownership
>50% owned by U.S.
citizens or permanent
residents (ultimate control
by natural persons)
Facilities
Physical office and
sufficient facilities to
perform work in US!
Location of work
R&D must occur in
U.S.A, but products/
prior results from non-
US entities can be
integrated
Cross-border Joint Ventures can be eligible!
 We are in contact with hundreds of US- & international startups
 Reach out to us if you are interested in matching you with in- or
outbound partners: contact@ekvacio.com
 Focus areas: healthcare, energy, AI/ML. Non-defense!
Contact:
Email: contact@ekvacio.com

How to Make Your Pre-Seed Startup (Grant) Fundable!

  • 1.
    30-May-2025 Jurgen Zach, PhD Thematerial in this presentation and any narrative delivered along with it is based on our experience working with startups and other small enterprises over the past decode, and what has mostly proven successful for them (and what has not). Nothing presented constitutes legal-, accounting-, or financial advice, and Ekvacio or its affiliates assume no responsibility for any party following the recommendations in this presentation without consulting an appropriate legal or accounting professional. There is no recipe for starting a business, or for applying for non-dilutive funding that guarantees success – any venture can fail, and any application for funding can be rejected, no matter how well planned and executed they are.
  • 2.
    Minimum Viable Company. Positioningyourself. Bootstrap to fundability. Outsourcing. Patents on a budget. Grant funding. International partnerships.
  • 3.
    Minimum Viable Company. Positioningyourself. Bootstrap to fundability. Outsourcing. Patents on a budget. Grant funding. International partnerships.
  • 4.
    All of theseapply:  Technology-based in the widest sense  Novelty in at least one aspect (product itself, or at least application)  Scalable  Impacts the national or world economy, provides social benefits  Potentially fundable: new medical or electronic device, new-to-world product  Not fundable: medical clinics or engineering consulting firms, better-quality or less expensive version of existing products Alternative pathways to entrepreneurship  Redesign and sell existing products, leverage globalized supply chain (contracts manufacturers, online retailers)  Reverse engineer and improve existing apps  Skilled professional services  Low-entry barriers:  Medical or dental practice  Law- or accounting office  Insurance agency  Real estate agency
  • 5.
    Company formation  Requiredfor non-dilutive funding: properly formed company in any US State  Most early-stage companies start as LLCs  Choice of jurisdiction:  Single member LLC (other team members are employees)  LLC partnership (proportional taxation/distribution of profits)  Regulatory advantages in Delaware, New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming  No requirement for headquarters or operations located in state if formation!  Caveat: depending on the state, you may have to register as a “foreign” entity in the state you operate  States with strict “foreign entity” reporting rules: California, Texas, New York, …  Out-of-state friendly: Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, ….  “Single proprietorships” not recommended
  • 6.
    Company formation S-Corp (taxstatus) C-Corp LLC Feature Pass-through Corporate + dividend tax Pass-through (default) Taxation ≤100 U.S. shareholders Unlimited Unlimited Owner Limits One class only Multiple allowed N/A (no stock) Stock Classes No self employment tax Profits remain in company Very low formation cost Advantages Not suitable for venture funding Administrative and legal cost Least tax-optimized for profitable companies Disadvantages Domestic small business Companies seeking venture funding Early-stage startups Ideal for:
  • 7.
    Most States Nevada New Mexico Wyoming Delaware Feature/ State Yes Yes No No No (on formation docs) Member Names Required? Yes (name/address disclosure) Yes (detailed + business license) None Yes (simple, $60) Yes (minimal info, $300 tax) Annual Report Filing? Often discouraged or restricted Yes Yes Yes Yes Can Use Nominee Managers? Weak or unclear Strong Strong Strong Not guaranteed Protection from Creditors Yes (most states) No Yes No No (pass- throughs exempt) State Income Tax (on LLCs)? Poor privacy in most cases Good privacy, but higher costs Max privacy, no annual reports Best mix of privacy & cost Strong legal framework Use for Privacy- Focused Startups Operating companies with local presence High-asset protection, strong entities Holding companies, privacy-first Asset protection, stealth startups VC-backed C-corps, legal flexibility Ideal Use Cases
  • 8.
    Requirements/strong recommendations  EIN(“tax ID number”): free and instantaneous through IRS  Registered agent services (required if registrations outside your home state)  Business checking account  Digital presence  Insurance  Easiest for early stage/pre-revenue: Novo, Bluevine, … (no monthly fees, set up in <1 day)  Startups with substantial revenue: regional/national bank or credit union advantageous  E.g.: Northwest Registered agent: strong privacy protection, from $75/year  WWW domain registration, presentable hosted website (Hostinger, Ionos, Bluehost, ….)  Company emails (Gmail, yahoo, etc. appear unprofessional)  Social media (LinkedIn, industry-related sites)  Liability situations or if you have capital assets: business insurance – may be required by B2B customers  If you have W-2 employees: workers’ compensation insurance (Texas only state where it’s optional)
  • 9.
    Minimum Viable Company. Positioningyourself. Bootstrap to fundability. Outsourcing. Patents on a budget. Grant funding. International partnerships.
  • 10.
    Employees Contractors  Preparedto become employees (W-2 tax status) once funded  2:1 ratio technical : non-technical recommended  Range of skillsets/experience  Existing employment relationship not required when fundraising!  Signed agreement/memo of understanding recommended.  No need for full-time employment or benefits!  Covering requirements of projects you seek to fund: diversity of skillsets, years of experience!  For tech-heavy startups: graduate degrees or equivalent experience advantageous  Recommended mainly for “one-off” contributions, employees preferred for core company operations  More documentation requirements in grant applications than for employees!  Limited to 1/3 of direct costs by most grants  Can be companies or natural persons (or single-member LLCs) – 1099 tax status Advisors  Technical, financial, legal, management experts – personal connections or equity compensation  Positions in academia, major industry players, public sector – careful with politics!  Examples: incubator/accelerator advisors, former college advisors, supervisors in past employment, patent attorneys
  • 11.
    Team composition  Minimumteam:  Physical/ medical products: “Pure” software or simpler products  Early-stage (Phase I): 2 technical & 1 non-technical  Later-stage (Phase II): 3-4 technical & ~2 non- technical Early-stage (Phase I):  Engineering: 1 hardware & 1 software  Domain scientist/clinician: 1-2 specialists  Non-technical: 1 project manager, 1 domain expert
  • 12.
    Device team  Sensortechnologist (CTO)  Embedded engineer  Mechanical engineer  PhD, Physics - 10 years of experience  Medical sensor & algorithm  MS, Electrical Engineering – 12 yrs exp  Electronics & Firmware  MS, Mechanical Engineering – 6 yrs exp  3D printing, design engineering Outsourced: contractors  App development (Android)  Cloud-based backend development  ← future hiring plans Management team  Manager (CEO)  Medical Sales  MBA, 10 years of experience in corporate finance  Co-performs CFO and legal compliance functions  Industry veteran in medical device marketing & sales  Independent agent, but has stake in company Medical science team  Clinical applications  Clinical science  MD, General Practitioner, actively practicing for 5 years  Specialized medical doctor  Clinical professor Outsourced:  Pre-approvals: prepare for FDA trial (consulting company)
  • 13.
    Company startup andoperations are not fundable by grants:  Business Formation & Assembling Team  Facilities (if required) and (initially) Durable Equipment  Early version of your product  Nice-to-haves: early sales, “paid prototypes”  Business Plan, Customer Discovery
  • 14.
    Company startup andoperations not fundable by grants:  Business Formation & Assembling Team  Facilities (if required) and Durable Equipment  Early version of your product  Nice-to-haves: early sales, “paid prototypes”  Business Plan, Customer Discovery (Grant) funding for projects:  Technical merit: new ideas!  Commercial merit: scalable!  Projects deemed to risky by private investors  Increase venture fundability of company  Benefits: impact on nation & world
  • 15.
    (Grant) funding forprojects:  Technical merit: new ideas!  Commercial merit: scalable!  Projects deemed to risky by private investors  Increase venture fundability of company  Benefits: impact on nation & world Company startup and operations not fundable by grants:  Business Formation & Assembling Team  Facilities (if required) and Durable Equipment  Early version of your product  Nice-to-haves: early sales, “paid prototypes”  Business Plan, Customer Discovery  Scalable product  Technical/scientific impact  New markets
  • 16.
    Minimum Viable Company. Positioningyourself. Bootstrap to fundability. Outsourcing. Patents on a budget. Grant funding. International partnerships.
  • 17.
    Foundations for Founders Financial resources needed: ~$5-100k /year disposable income pre-revenue  Education and work experience  Qualifications across multiple skill sets, verifiable (product launches, publications, patents, ….)  Graduate degrees or equivalent experience VERY helpful for grants  Prior experience in multiple companies, including startups, helpful  Contacts across the industry served  Company formation & maintenance, including accounting: $2k / year  Tools & equipment: from $1-5k/yr for software startups to >$10-20k/yr for electronics/hardware startups  Sourcing tip: University Surplus Sales for professional decommissioned equipment from 1% of new kit!  Travel: $0-10,000/year to attend conferences, industry meetings  Business insurance (if needed): from ~$1k/yr – $(LOTS)k/yr!  “Facilities”: co-working spaces from ~1k/yr, garage converted to a lab
  • 18.
    Foundations for Founders Personal situations  Starting a company while working a “day job”  Check non-compete-, invention assignment-, and the law in your home state!  California: non-competes and many invention assignment agreements are null and void! An employer CANNOT stop you from starting a company on the side, develop products and keep the intellectual property.  Other “friendly” states: North Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota (also, mostly: Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Illinois)  High enforceability of non-competes: Texas, Florida, Virginia, Ohio, ….  Bring family/significant other on board!!! Reduced time & disposable income for years to come  Combination of energy and experience. The average age of a successful founder is 45!  Plan to answering emails and calls on weekends and vacations!
  • 19.
    Minimum Viable Company. Positioningyourself. Bootstrap to fundability. Outsourcing. Patents on a budget. Grant funding. International partnerships.
  • 20.
    Missing an AIcomponent in your proposal is a disadvantage!  New partnership with DigiTranIn  Access to experienced developers in India and the US  Helping you add an AI component to your non-IT startup
  • 21.
    DigiTranIn offers scalable,affordable software development services designed specifically for startups. Whether you're building an MVP or scaling fast, our team acts as your agile tech partner—committed to speed, quality, and transparency. We build your software so that you can take over anytime—fully or partially— with clean, well-documented code and open collaboration. Whether you continue with us or bring development in-house, you're always in control. DigiTranIn will accelerate your development Build now. Scale later. Without burning cash. Get behind the wheel anytime!
  • 22.
    Broad and deepexperience Web App Development Mobile App Development Cloud Solutions Cyber Security ERP Application Development Internet of Things AI/ML VR/AR
  • 23.
  • 24.
    Digitranin = InfraThat Grows With You Core value prop: DigiTranIn offers affordable data, ML, and DevOps solutions for early- stage teams, with a path to scale as you grow.
  • 25.
    • Basic: BootstrapTier ( ) - Ideal for pre-seed/seed. Flat-rate pricing, basic ETL, one model deployed, light ops. • Intermediate: Growth Tier ( )Adds monitoring, analytics stack, CI/CD automation • Advanced: Scale Tier ( )Full MLOps, cross-cloud resilience, live support • Stress: Digitran is an investment, not a vendor pitch!!! Startup-First Service Tiers Lay out flexible offerings tailored to teams focused on preserving cash:
  • 26.
    Case Study Snapshots Layout flexible offerings tailored to teams focused on preserving cash: *ETL: Extract, Transform, Load (Data Warehousing)
  • 27.
    Case Study Snapshots Layout flexible offerings tailored to teams focused on preserving cash: *ETL: Extract, Transform, Load (Data Warehousing)
  • 28.
    Engagement Models: Fast,Flexible, Cost-Aligned Show how teams can start small and expand easily: Custom Engagements
  • 29.
    Project: Startup in theenergy space that was scaling rapidly, especially among its customer-facing employees: custom ERP with HR module built first. Our Solution: An easy-to-use ERP system with core modules including: • Employee Management: Centralized employee data • Attendance & Leave Tracker: Simple request and approval workflows • Payroll Management: Automated salary and pay slip generation • HR Dashboard: Reports on attendance, turnover, etc. ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning
  • 30.
    ERP - AttendanceTracking Roadmap (Phase 2): • Biometric integration • Performance evaluations • Employee self-service portal • Policy and document management Additional Use Cases: Startups, SMEs, Educational Institutions, Healthcare Providers
  • 31.
  • 32.
    Project: Empower smaller clinicsor regional health systems leverage insights from Medicare and other electronic health records while complying with HIPAA regulations and managing beneficiary access authorizations. Our Solution: • An interactive dashboard for: • Data-driven decision-making • Real-time and historical analysis AI-powered forecasting (future roadmap) Medicare insights - MVP A healthcare analytics tool designed to help healthcare providers gain insights into patient trends, treatment costs, and disease patterns through real-time and historical data analysis.
  • 33.
  • 34.
  • 35.
    Key Features: • Dynamicfilters: disease type, age, gender, region • Spend analysis: monthly/annual breakdowns • Patient trend monitoring • Regional comparisons • Interactive charts and reports Roadmap (Phase 2): • AI-based trend prediction • Electronic health records Target Users: Hospitals, Clinics, Insurance Providers, Healthcare Researchers Medicare insights - MVP
  • 36.
    Let’s Build WhatMatters, Not Overhead “Your product is the rocket. We’re your launchpad.” Startup-aligned differentiators  Ekvacio is acting as US based partner  Package deals with grant consulting  MVP with AI in the $X,000 range!
  • 37.
    Minimum Viable Company. Positioningyourself. Bootstrap to fundability. Outsourcing. Patents on a budget. Grant funding. International partnerships.
  • 38.
    Provisional patents –USPTO’s best idea!  Early Protection: filing secures a priority date for 12 months while you develop or fundraise.  Low Cost, No Claims Needed. Cheaper and simpler than a full patent; no formal claims required, but the invention should be well described (“enabling” for skilled persons to replicate).  No Extensions. You must file a non-provisional patent within 12 months or lose your rights.  No Public Disclosure First: File before showing or selling your invention—especially important for international protection.  “Patent Pending” Status allowed.  Interested? Contact us (contact@ekvacio.com) or our partners at Ingenium Patents (peter@ingeniumpatents.com)
  • 39.
    Minimum Viable Company. Positioningyourself. Bootstrap to fundability. Outsourcing. Patents on a budget. Grant funding. International partnerships.
  • 40.
    PHASE I  Proofof Concept  3 – 24 months (9-12 typ.)  ~$75,000 - $400,000 ($300k typ.) PHASE II  Scalable Product Development  12 - 36 months (24 typ.)  $750,000 – $3M (1.25M-2M typ.) PHASE III  Commercialization – Varied (usually needs matching private investment) Phase I + Phase II 6-18 mos 12-24 mos $305K $1.25M Phase I + Phase II 6-24 mos 12-36 mos $315-400K $2.1M Phase I Feasibility study  Proof-of-concept/Feasibility  High-risk R&D Phase II R&D WORK  Further DEVS to advance toward commercial deployment Evaluation Criteria Intellectual Merit High-risk, innovative R&D Commercial Potential Scalable products Broader Impact Impact on trajectory of your industry and the world
  • 41.
     Advanced Manufacturing(M)  Advanced Materials (AM)  Advanced Systems for Scalable Analytics (AA)  Agricultural Technologies (AG)  Artificial Intelligence (AI)  Augmented Virtual and Mixed Reality (AV/VR/MR)  Biological Technologies (BT)  Biomedical Technologies (BM)  Chemical Technologies (CT)  Cloud and High-Performance Computing (CH)  Cybersecurity and Authentication (CA)  Digital Health (DH)  Distributed Ledger (DL)  Energy Technologies (EN)  Environmental Technologies (ET)  Human-Computer Interaction (HC)  Instrumentation and Hardware Systems (IH)  Internet of Things (I)  Learning and Cognition Technologies (LC)  Medical Devices (MD)  Mobility (MO)  Nanotechnology (N)  Other Topics (OT)  Pharmaceutical Technologies (PT)  Photonics (PH)  Power Management (PM)  Quantum Information Technologies (QT)  Robotics (R)  Semiconductors (S)  Space (SP)  Wireless Technologies (W)
  • 42.
    Proposal Structure (PhaseI) Key Evaluation Criteria (Unofficial but Crucial!)  Project Description: Main document. Technically dense, 15 pages, equivalent to peer-reviewed publication!  Budget & Justification: Following regulations on salary, subcontractors, equipment vs supplies: 5 pages.  Biographical Sketches: PI & Project Employees, max 3 pages each.  Facilities & Resources: Lab, equipment details.  Several misc. documents  Support Docs: Quotes, Letters of Support, Data Management Plan, …  Innovation: NSF prioritizes novel R&D over routine development (especially Phase I).  Scientific Quality: High-level project description, like a peer-reviewed paper.  Team Expertise: Strong academic and technical background.  Business Plan: Clear path to market viability.  Partnership: Strong letters of support from Customers / Investors / Technical Authorities.  Facilities: Access to labs, tools, and resources.
  • 43.
     National EyeInstitute (NEI)  National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)  National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)  National Institute on Aging (NIA)  National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)  National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)  Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)  National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)  National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)  National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)  National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)  National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)  National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)  National Library of Medicine (NLM)  National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)  National Cancer Institute (NCI)  National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH)
  • 44.
    Ekvacio’s in-house survey(National Science Foundation): • 1,378 NSF grants canceled • 45 grants from “Technology, Innovation, Partnerships” • “TIP” includes SBIR Canceled non-academic grants: only 10! • PHARMACOUSTICS TECHNOLOGIES LLC • Mozilla Foundation • LEARNING NETWORK, LLC, THE • CLAUDIUS LEGAL INTELLIGENCE INC • CHANGE AERIAL LLC • INA SOLUTIONS INC. • MYVILLAGE PROJECT INC • SMART GIRLS HQ LLC • EDNA INC. • LISA FITZPATRICK & ASSOCIATES MD PC <0.1% of canceled grants are for-profit, non- academic! EDU: Education SBE: Social/Behavioral/Economic GEO: Geosciences BIO: Biological Sciences ENG: Engineering CISE: Computer & Information Sciences MPS: Math & Physical Sciences TIP: Technology, Innovation, Partnerships (these include SBIR)
  • 45.
    Tangible changes: • Limitationin “indirect cost rate” to 15% → No changes to for-profit applicants • Overall for-profit funding budget unchanged! → Funding by SBA, not NSF, NIH, etc! • Staffing cuts at NSF, NIH, NOAA, …. → Trend towards faster processing stops “Cultural” trends: • 180° change in impact priorities → Social & environmental • New brand of “Political Correctness” → Superficially applied – “trigger words” • Recommended: focus on economics & security → Cost savings, economic impact → Domestic impact trumps global impact Positive trend: • Blockchain/distributed ledger • Nuclear Renaissance • Artificial Intelligence Decline: • Traditional renewables (solar, wind, etc) • Infectious diseases, public health • “Social entrepreneurship” No change: • Most medical topics • Most of space & defense
  • 46.
    Our terms: Combination ofStartup Fee and Success-Based Fee. “Standard” grants (SBIR, STTR): Startup Fee is only 5%. Private foundations, ARPA-H, BARDA, etc: Startup Fee is 10%. 100% confidentiality assured (if you want us to be) We will enter an NDA anytime! We only work with companies we think can win a grant! Fundability consulting Grant generation and submission Domestic writing teams! • 100% grad school education • Master’s, PhDs, Postdocs • Science, engineering, computer science • Subject matter experts • Candidates for recruiting! Simple-fee provisional patent (through lawfirm partnership - coming soon!) Accessing international ecosystems, inbound and outbound (coming soon)
  • 47.
    Do-it-yourself (Phase I): CASHBURN: $37,000 Engineering time: 30 per diems @ $600 a day: $18,000 Administrative time: 20 per diems @ $500 a day: $10,000 Legal & accounting: $4,000 Total direct labor cost: $32,000 Overhead (15%): $5,000 Total cash: $37,000 TIME / RUNWAY: 1/2 of your engineering team spends 3 months writing a grant: loss of 1-2 months of runway Ekvacio (Phase I): CASH EXPENSE: Startup fee: $3,000 TIME / RUNWAY: Weekly email updates/reviews ~1 hr/week of meetings UNIQUE BENEFITS: Increased odds to win grant Grant portfolio: multiple grants in parallel
  • 48.
    Has your grantbeen rejected due to the federal government’s revised policies? • Free review of rejected grant applications. • For grants with sufficient merit, we offer revision and resubmission without retainer! Public endorsements. • Published referrals: 50% discount on retainer and success fee • Publication rights of rejected grant applications: refund of 50-100% of retainer! • Permission to use accepted proposals as templates: reduction of success fee by up to 50%! Referrals. • $5,000 bonus for referrals of clients resulting in any successful grant application!  Email: contact@ekvacio.com
  • 49.
    Minimum Viable Company. Positioningyourself. Bootstrap to fundability. Outsourcing. Patents on a budget. Grant funding. International partnerships.
  • 50.
    Eligibility Requirements Ownership >50% ownedby U.S. citizens or permanent residents (ultimate control by natural persons) Facilities Physical office and sufficient facilities to perform work in US! Location of work R&D must occur in U.S.A, but products/ prior results from non- US entities can be integrated Cross-border Joint Ventures can be eligible!  We are in contact with hundreds of US- & international startups  Reach out to us if you are interested in matching you with in- or outbound partners: contact@ekvacio.com  Focus areas: healthcare, energy, AI/ML. Non-defense!
  • 51.