On November 6, 2014, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) announced a new program with a simplified process for engaging with DARPA that will make it easier for businesses to attract up to $700k in seedling funding to pursue capabilities at the intersection of biology and technology.

From Dr. Alicia Jackson, deputy director of DARPA’s BTO:

DARPA’s Biological Technologies Office looks at biology as a technology, with a focus on harnessing living systems or integrating those systems with nonliving systems.  If you look at where we’re already invested, it’s in areas such as human-machine interfaces, synthetic biology, combatting infectious disease and optimizing human health. The ideas we’re seeking would continue that push to integrate biology, engineering, and computer science to create new capabilities relevant to national security. It’s an exciting space, it’s meaningful, and it positions researchers at the far forward edge of today’s biological and technological revolutions.

The new program, created through a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) removes two major barriers to entry for potential DARPA performers. First, the EZ BAA is open to any idea with the potential to yield revolutionary new capabilities in the biotech space. This eliminates the need for proposers to search or wait for specific opportunities relevant to their expertise. Second, rather than forcing would-be proposers to respond in full detail to a traditional  BAA, which typically runs 40 to 60 pages and requires highly structured responses from proposers, BTO’s EZ BAA requires only a two-page white paper to start. Within just a few weeks of submission, DARPA will either encourage or discourage submission of a full proposal of no more than 20 pages.

You can read the full BAA here.