🧑‍🔬Submit a Project

Our mission at Molecule is to expedite translational R&D by providing funding and support to research areas and stages currently underserved by traditional grants and venture capital funding. We seek to support scientific projects with commercial potential, especially those leading to tangible biomedical products like therapeutics and diagnostics.

We are looking for committed researchers who are seeking efficient access to funding for their translational research projects. Through our Catalyst platform, we enable patrons of science to directly fund promising early-stage biotech research. In exchange for their support, funders receive intellectual property (IP) rights on terms set forth in a sponsored research agreement with the researcher.

Funding Model

The process is structured in phases from project preparation to successful funding. Here's what to expect when applying for funding using Molecule Catalyst.

Preparation

1. Prepare project materials either alone or in collaboration with a community

2. Upload project materials on Catalyst

Launch

3. Launch project

4. Project is live and open for funding for your desired amount of time

Success

5. Sponsored Research Agreement (or similar) is negotiated with university TTO

6. Agreement is signed and funds are transferred according to the payment schedule

Ongoing

7. Provide sponsor and community with updates on project status and milestone completion

Catalyst is a quick, lightweight tool to raise funds for your translational research. It can be used to find your community, get input on your project, and quickly start your work. There is no guarantee that the project will be funded, as it needs to reach the funding goal within the set time frame. If the project is not funded in time, all funds will be returned to funders. If the project is funded, then the project’s designated sponsor negotiates a sponsored research agreement with your university TTO and unlocks funds according to the milestone schedule.

---

Timeline and Application Process

Phase I - Project Preparation

Week 1 to 8

• Prepare project materials either alone or in collaboration with a community

• Inform TTO about listing project for funding on Catalyst

• Initiate discussion of potential IP agreements with TTO Phase I - Project Preparation

Phase II - Fundraise

Week 9 to 12

• Molecule reviews materials for completion and uploads project on Catalyst

• Fundraise duration is fixed to the time duration of your choice using an all-or-nothing mechanism

• Participate in community engagement via social media to answer project-related questions

Phase III - Negotiation and Sponsorship

Week 1 to 24

• Continuous engagement between researcher, TTO, sponsor, and Molecule to discuss contract terms

• Contract is signed between university and sponsor

• 3-month window to negotiate contract starting from the date that funding was completed, otherwise funds are returned to funders and deal terminates

• Funders can claim their IP rights in the form of IP Tokens (IPTs) granting governance rights over the project

Phase IV - Execution

Until project completion

• Community designs governance frameworks and can exercise voting rights

• Researchers provide regular updates to the community

• Researchers complete deliverables according to milestone timelines

• Funds are transferred to the university according to deliverable and payment schedule

---

Eligibility Criteria

	Why Catalyst	Why not Catalyst
Type of Research	Translational research	Fundamental research
IP	The project will result in IP that will be licensed by a Sponsor* on Catalyst	The project will not result in IP, or there isn’t a desire to license the IP to a sponsor
Project size**	<$50k is needed to complete project milestones, milestones take no longer than 6-12 months to complete	>$50k is needed to complete project milestones, milestones take > 12 months to complete
Project structure	Project with defined milestones, deadlines, and deliverables. Project can be >$50k in total size, as long as raising in $50k tranches provides meaningful progress and completion of milestones in 6-12 months. Total project size includes expenses and overhead costs.	Exploratory project, long time horizon to achieve a milestone. Project that is >50k in total size and needs >$50k per funding tranche
Researcher profile	Entrepreneurial focus Wants to engage with a community of people interested in their work Understands the requirements of a sponsored or contract research agreement	Academic focus Wants to continue working mostly within existing contacts and ecosystem Prefers to work under a grant structure and does not want to engage in sponsored or contract research
Openness and community	Researcher accepts that all project proposal materials will be publicly visible on Catalyst, emphasizing openness and transparency. You will never be asked to share confidential information that would jeopardize the IP position in your proposal or to the community.	Researcher prefers the traditional academic structure and way of working without direct community engagement.

*Molecule currently sponsors all projects on Catalyst

**Based on current size of ecosystem; ideally this number grows as the community grows

---

Application details

Requirements

• Initial project already in mind

• Time requirement will vary based on project size. Up to 20h maximum over 3 months for high ticket size projects (50k and above)

• Willingness to engage with broad community (including scientists and patient advocates) and receive and implement feedback on plans to improve the project

Materials to prepare

Mandatory materials

• Project proposal

• Key images and data supplementary document

• Methods, budget, timeline, milestones document

• Personal information

• Relevant background materials

Optional materials

• Short pitch deck

• Short video

Material submission information

All materials should be sent to [e-mail] as pdf, word or pptt format. The video can be sent as a mp3 file.

Once the materials have been submitted, they will be assessed for completeness. If a document or section is missing, Molecule will ask you to update the document and re-submit it. Molecule reserves the right not to publish any projects for funding that would be considered harmful or illegal.

The materials review and approval process will take 1-5 days. After successful review, the project will be listed on Catalyst. Molecule is not responsible for the accuracy of the content of the projects, nor does it endorse any of the projects listed.

For more info on please check Supplemental documentation: Application details.

Disclaimer

Molecule may sponsor projects on Catalyst and will receive platform trading fees from projects on Catalyst. Information about projects on Catalyst is provided for transparency and does not constitute an endorsement or financial advice.