Ask HN: How do solo founders find academic co-founders for STTR grants?

[Rao_Atreya]

I am a solo software founder building an open-source AI pipeline for the HVAC industry. Specifically, I've bridged a Deep Reinforcement Learning agent (PyTorch) with a native physics solver (FEniCSx) to autonomously generate fatigue-resistant, 3D-printable elastocaloric heat exchangers.

The software architecture and manufacturing constraints (0.2mm LPBF limit) are fully functional [1].

However, to upgrade the physics from linear elasticity to true non-linear hyperelasticity/phase-field modeling (so the AI can learn Nitinol's hysteresis loop), I need a domain expert in shape memory alloys.

My goal is to partner with a US-based academic lab to jointly apply for a DOE/NSF STTR Phase 1 grant. I bring the AI architecture and startup vehicle; they bring the non-linear math and physical testing lab.

Has anyone here successfully navigated finding an academic co-founder for an STTR grant? Do cold emails to university PIs actually work, or should I be looking at specific deep-tech accelerators? Any advice is appreciated.

[1] GitHub repo:https://github.com/rao-atreya-01/elastocaloric-ai-optimization

[verdverm]

SBIR / STTR is all about networking and influence. The way to get one of this is to have them written so that only your proposal covers all the aspects and will get accepted.

Cynicism comes from talking through some proposals with people who've done it before. I never followed through on collaborating/submitting any of them.

[nis0s]

The best way is to publish papers and go to conferences

[Rao_Atreya]

Thanks for the input! Conferences are definitely on my radar (like the ASME or MRS fall meetings). However, as a solo, bootstrapped software founder, the 6-12 month peer-review cycle for publishing an article on my own is a bit too slow for my runway. That’s exactly why I'm hoping to partner with an existing lab—I bring the fast-moving AI architecture, and they bring the publishing pedigree and physics validation. Have you seen any founders successfully bridge that gap without having to spend a year writing papers first?