Denver, CO, March 14, 2018– Living Ink Technologies, a cutting-edge biomaterials company has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant for $750,000 to conduct research and development (R&D) related to ecofriendly printing ink using algae as biobased pigments.Living Ink is striving to make the world more sustainable, renewable and safer by developing algae-derived printing ink. The Algae Ink™ technology is a drop-in replacement for conventional ink that currently uses pigments derived from petroleum and other finite chemicals, most of which are toxic. Living Ink has developed a process that produces robust black Algae Ink™. This grant will play a significant role in further R&D of this process and scaling up. Additionally, this grant will support molecular biology research to develop algae that are colored cyan, magenta and yellow for biobased pigments. These colorful biopigments will be used in ink products and other colorant industries.“The National Science Foundation supports small businesses with the most innovative, cuttingedge ideas that have the potential to become great commercial successes and make huge societal impacts,” said Barry Johnson, Director of the NSF’s Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships. “We hope that this seed funding will spark solutions to some of the most important challenges of our time across all areas of science and technology.”In 2017, Living Ink Technologies was awarded a $225,000 NSF SBIR Phase I grant, in which significant progress was made to develop Algae Ink™. “We are thrilled to receive additional support from the NSF. This award will be instrumental to further our R&D efforts for developing next-generation ink products. This award is crucial for the scaling of these technologies and deploying commercially in the packaging ink market and beyond,” stated Scott Fulbright, CEO and co-founder of Living Ink Technologies.

About Living Ink Technologies:

Living Ink Technologies is a cutting-edge biomaterials company striving to make the world more sustainable and safer. The company uses algae and biotechnology to developing ink and coatings. For more information, visit livingink.co or watch the TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/4uAAegPkCKo

About the National Science Foundation’s Small Business Programs:

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awards nearly $190 million annually to startups and small businesses through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. The nondilutive grants support research and development (R&D) across almost all areas of science and technology helping companies de-risk technology for commercial success.Source: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59382af886e6c0c673b41105/t/5aa936630d9297e66d0da94d/1521038948798/Living+Ink+Phase+II+press+release.pdf