R&D funding accelerates the translation of results to impact

LOS ANGELES (May 22, 2023) – Los Angeles-based start-up, ESTE® Leverage, has been awarded a seed fund grant valued at $275,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to further their mission of helping girls to pursue their interests freely using a new model that unifies entrepreneurship, science, tech, and engineering. 

According to research conducted by the US Bureau of Labour and Statistics, women make up less than 30 percent of the workforce in science, technology, and engineering. Although those numbers are disheartening, research is trending upward in the area of entrepreneurs and for women. In 2021, nearly half of new businesses were started by women. 

“A  partnership with NSF was always the wish for us,” said Terrisa Duenas PhD, PMP, CEO and founder of ESTE® Leverage. “Through ESTE Leverage, we seek to disrupt the confidence gap between boys and girls and empower girls to find where their interests lie. This grant will enable us to reach school districts to include in our pilot studies, which are integral in developing our Career Exploration Roadmap products.”

ESTE Leverage applied for the grant under NSF’s Learning and Cognition Technologies topic with a focus on Learning and Workforce Development and Neuroscience-based Technologies. The seed fund was created by NSF to help startups navigate the early stages of technology transition research and development.

“NSF accelerates the translation of emerging technologies into transformative new products and services,” said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF assistant director for technology, innovation, and partnerships. “We take great pride in funding deep-technology startups and small businesses that will shape science and engineering results into meaningful solutions for today and tomorrow.”

The data collected through the ESTE Assessment helps girls pull out those innate qualities that already live within them and empowers them to explore their inner passions and creative desires.  The Assessment also enables parents to have an objective, data-driven conversational tool in their parental arsenal that helps identify their daughter's strengths and encourages them to lean into them in pursuit of multiple career options that could bring them joy.

All proposals submitted to the NSF SBIR/STTR program, also known as America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF, undergo a rigorous merit-based review process. Once a small business is awarded a Phase I grant, it becomes eligible to apply for Phase II funding and additional supplements totaling up to $2 million.

Launched in 2022, ESTE Leverage seeks to keep more women in careers that leverage entrepreneurship, science, technology, and engineering, by providing an informative platform that allows them to explore a variety of career paths. The company’s profiler provides girls with “ESTE superpowers” - empowering them to leverage their internal interests using their personality strengths naturally blocking out negative external messaging.

For further information about ESTE® Leverage or to take the ESTE Assessment, visit: https://www.esteleverage.com. 

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About Este Leverage

ESTE Leverage was founded on the belief that Entrepreneurship, Science, Technology, and Engineering are innate - grounded in the science of education & learning – dedicated to the realized potential in every individual. ESTE Leverage created an innate interest profiler that empowers girls to explore their natural interests in these areas resulting in multiplied career options.

About the U.S. National Science Foundation's Small Business Programs

America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF awards more than $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $2 million to support research and development, helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Research and Development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

Media contact:
Meredith LeJeune
Thought Bubble Communications
mmobley@thoughtbubblecommunications.com