--- title: GE Extend North Carolina resources | Grant Engine description: Download the slides and the full recording from Capitalizing on Non-Dilutive Funding, held October 7, 2026 at First Flight Venture Center in RTP. --- [![Grant Engine Logo White](https://info.grantengine.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Grant%20Engine%20Logo%20White.png?width=150&height=150&name=Grant%20Engine%20Logo%20White.png "Grant Engine Logo White")](http://grantengine.com/?hsLang=en) [![Receive Fast & Customized Funding Insights](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/45270848/fea648e1-6dcb-46b8-b5a9-12c3ffc5ed50.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/45270848/fea648e1-6dcb-46b8-b5a9-12c3ffc5ed50) Non-Dilutive Funding Webinar Series # First Flight Venture Center - GE Extend North Carolina Capitalizing on Non-Dilutive Funding Where federal funding stands today, what wins now, where AI helps and where it hurts, and how to build a funding strategy that lasts. **Held Wednesday, October 7, 2026**First Flight Venture Center, 2 Davis Drive, RTP, NC. Slides and recording available below. ## Download Resources Get the presentation slides and the full session recording, including the live Q&A. ## What the session covered 1. 45 minutes ### The session Funding update and outlook, what it takes to write a winning application, where AI fits, and long-term funding strategies. 2. 15 minutes ### Live Q&A Questions from the room, included in the recording. 3. 30 minutes ### Meet the team One-on-one in-person consultations after the session. Federal non-dilutive funding has changed more in the past year than in the prior decade. SBIR/STTR is reauthorized through September 2031, annual proposal caps arrive in FY2027, and every applicant now faces a national security risk assessment. NIH is catching up on a delayed FY26 cycle, with roughly half of its $1.5B SBIR/STTR budget still to obligate in September. Meanwhile, submission volume is up more than 40% in two years and average win rates have fallen by nearly half. **Funding Update & Outlook.** Status, budgets, deadlines, and best fit across Life Sciences & Health (NIH SBIR/STTR, ARPA-H, BARDA) and Defense & Dual-Use (DoD SBIR/STTR, DARPA, DIU), plus the reauthorization provisions that matter most, including Strategic Breakthrough Awards of up to $30M, proposal caps, expanded Direct-to-Phase II, and the new foreign risk and security requirements. **Write to Win + AI in Use.** What separates funded applications from the rest. Grant Engine's analysis of NIH SBIR proposals shows the Approach section is the strongest predictor of funding, and DoD ranks technical approach above every other criterion. We draw a clear line on AI: where it accelerates the work, where only people can do it, and why paid AI tools are not always private for unpublished data and IP. **Long-Term Funding Strategies.** Moving from the next award to the next several years: diversifying across federal, state, non-profit, and global sources, and the plays leading companies use to build durable funding. ## What you'll take away - Where the money is right now: status, budgets, deadlines, and best fit for NIH SBIR/STTR, ARPA-H, BARDA, DoD SBIR/STTR, DARPA, and DIU - What just changed: reauthorization provisions, annual proposal caps, Strategic Breakthrough Awards, and foreign risk requirements, and what each means for your filing strategy - Why applications win or lose, and why the hardest sections to write well are the ones that decide the outcome - How to win more often: a self-evident story, logical flow, clarity, shoring up the weakest criteria, and independent external review - The AI boundary: where AI accelerates the work, and where the grant thesis, differentiation, and Specific Aims stay human - How to protect your IP, since consumer AI terms may permit reuse of your content - A long-term strategy that compounds each win into the next ## Want to talk through your own funding plan? Our program managers work with companies one on one, in confidence, on the specific programs and deadlines that fit their work. Reach us at funding@grantengine.com. - Discuss your specific company and project in confidence - Ask the questions that came up during the session - Get direct input from our program managers - Leave with a clear sense of your next funding step ## Your speakers ![Sam Tetlow](https://info.grantengine.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Sam%20(2).png?width=180&name=Sam%20(2).png "Sam Tetlow") ### Sam Tetlow, MBA Founder & CEO, Grant Engine Sam leads Grant Engine, which has secured over $1B in non-dilutive funding for life sciences, defense, and dual-use companies through NIH, DoD, DARPA, BARDA, and ARPA-H, at win rates 2x to 4x the national average. He also leads Streamline, Grant Engine's AI-powered grant writing and management platform. He has served as CEO of EpiCypher, General Manager of ILS Genomics, and Executive Chairman of Gentris Corporation. Sam holds an MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. ![Yichao Yang](https://info.grantengine.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Yichao%20Yang.jpg?width=180&name=Yichao%20Yang.jpg "Yichao Yang") ### Yichao Yang, PhD Program Manager, Grant Engine Yichao holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology with postdoctoral training in Infectious Diseases at USDA and Yale University School of Medicine. She has more than 12 years of biomedical research experience and has founded two biotechnology startups. She has over 5 years of experience in federal grant development with a focus on SBIR/STTR, supporting clients across biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices, and digital health. ![Lang Qin](https://info.grantengine.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Lang%20Qin.jpg?width=180&name=Lang%20Qin.jpg "Lang Qin") ### Lang Qin, PhD Program Manager, Grant Engine Lang holds a Ph.D. in Physics and a B.S. in Chemistry, with postdoctoral training in Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. She has served as PI or Co-PI on multiple federally funded projects and has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications with over 3,000 citations. She helps clients secure non-dilutive funding across biomaterials, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, materials science, energy, medical devices, and the physical sciences. ## Missed the session? The slides and the full recording, including the live Q&A, are yours. 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