Have you looked into SBIRs? www.sbir.gov/ BTW, small world, my SO knows Eagle :P
very briefly. We're comparing the time + effort spent crafting an application (which apparently is quite large, for first-timers) and not fitting the ask VS simply building it and approaching consumers / partners.
If you have particular insight on any SBIR proposals related to our work, do share. Thanks!
ps. yes, Nathan is a friend.