Programs designed and administered by Wright Brothers Institute have been instrumental in the promising success of Legionarius ,LLC, whose “smart garment” is poised to change the field of battle by sensing penetrating wounds and burns while simultaneously alerting medical support. Legionarius, LLC is a is a two-time SBIR-awarded small business, its most recent being a Phase II in the 19.2 solicitation cycle. The support of SBIR funding has been vital to the company’s development of clothing with far-reaching and game-changing capabilities. In January of 2022, Legionarius participated in SBIR Ventures’ SBIR TAP (Small Business Innovation Research Technology Acceleration Program), a product of WBI and The Entrepreneurs Center for SBIR awardees in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory. WBI’s SBIR Ventures team and SBIR TAP is fully funded by AFWERX Ventures. SBIR awardees apply and, if selected, join a weeklong SBIR TAP cohort at no cost to them – not even a nominal equity stake.
While attending SBIR TAP, Legionarius sharpened its value proposition, considered commercial and DoD business models, cultivated market research strategies and other useful start-up skills. The company leadership also made important connections with other SBIR-awarded small businesses, entrepreneurial mentors, and SBIR transition experts such as SBIR Ventures’ Technology Broker, Eric Hill.
In February 2022, Mr. Hill engaged with WBI’s Industry Outreach Program Manager, René Meadors, to discuss collaboration between Legionarius and AFRL technologies complementary to its SBIR technology development goals. Ms. Meadors works with the AFRL Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTAs) to transfer Air Force developed intellectual property (IP) to industry transition partners and bring AFRL technologies to market and into the hands of the warfighter. Piggybacking development of SBIR-awarded technologies and AFRL IP is a win-win for Air Force technology development.
On March 15th, 2022, Legionarius secured an Information Technology Agreement (ITA) with AFRL’s 711th Human Performance Wing. This ITA allows Legionarius access to data needed to develop and iterate on their SBIR-awarded technology. It also paves the way for a potential Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), when and if the 711th deems appropriate.
“Over the past few years, our collaboration with the Wright Brothers Institute has been essential for us as an early-stage startup to get connected to end-user groups and stakeholders within the Air Force community,” said Dr. Alex Gruentzig, CTO and co-founder of Legionarius, LLC. “Our initial contact was during one of the first TechWarrior Exercises, where we demonstrated our prototypes and got connected with the WBI ecosystem and AFRL. We were able to start collaborating with AFRL and AFWERX (via SBIR 1&2), and we have continued our research efforts to this day with ongoing support from WBI, for example, via its SBIR TAP program, and their assistance in setting up an updated ITA with AFRL (711th HPW).
“This ITA allows us access to critical information and data needed to further develop our SBIR technologies,” he said.
This battlefield technology could be a crucial element in saving lives on the battlefield. According to Introduction to Tactical Combat Casualty Care published by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, the three most common causes of preventable death on the battlefield are: 1) hemorrhage from extremity wounds; 2) tension pneumothorax; and 3) airway problems. (SOURCE: naemt.org)
A Military Medicine paper published by The Society of Federal Health Professionals found that “87 percent of combat-related deaths occurred in the prehospital setting; 24 percent of those deaths were potentially preventable; hemorrhage is the predominant cause of preventable death on the battlefield ….) (SOURCE: https://academic.oup.com/milmed/article/182/3-4/e1563/4099581#100891925)
Legionarius’ groundbreaking technology, backed and supported by the programs and expertise of WBI, are excellent indicators of continued transition success for this important SBIR-funded technology that will save warfighter lives.