Dawnbreaker has grown from a one-woman operation into a respected enterprise, helping government agencies commercialize the most promising innovations

As Congress battles budgets and debates the next steps to create jobs, taxpayers need to know if their hard-earned tax dollars are being put to good use. Jenny Servo, founder of Dawnbreaker, created her business to help taxpayer-funded research projects find their way into the marketplace.

"Dawnbreaker specializes in commercialization, or the process of turning a concept into a marketable product,” Servo says. “We fill a unique niche as we work with advanced technology firms that receive research and development (R&D) funding through the government’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program."
Dawnbreaker's customer base consists primarily of federal agencies that fund R&D, including the U.S. Navy, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Special Operations Command.

"The agencies we work with fund the R&D of small businesses around the country," Servo explains. "They hire Dawnbreaker to help these firms commercialize their innovations.  We assist with strategic planning, market research, marketing, and securing additional funding. In this way, the taxpayer money that funds R&D will generate products that create jobs and have a positive socio-economic impact.  We have worked with over 4,500 SBIR projects, which have generated over $2.5 billion in total."

Dawnbreaker works with approximately 500 small businesses annually in a variety of industries, including defense, energy and space. These small businesses drive the creation of jobs and infuse innovations into the U.S. economy.  With the Department of Defense, Servo notes, you will find components developed by small businesses in aircraft, ships, tanks and many other platforms.

Dawnbreaker is about to release a new collection of market research products called the Critical Technology Series. These reports are related to emerging technologies identified by the Department of Energy, such as advanced vehicle technology, solar energy and biomass. When it comes to alternative energy, all federal agencies are looking to increase
their use of technologies that utilize renewable energy and increase energy efficiency.

Dawnbreaker has also expanded into the medical industry. "I have an excellent person on my team, a former vice president with Bausch & Lomb," Servo says. "He's been the one driving our growth in the medical industry. We are crossing over between medical and defense. When people come back from Iraq and Afghanistan they may have many different types of severe injuries, such as traumatic brain injury. Our team works with companies and scientists to assure that their solutions become known to the Department of Defense."

Dawnbreaker is expecting $7 million in revenue this year, a far cry from its earliest days. Servo once ran the business alone, simultaneously working elsewhere as Dawnbreaker got its financial footing. "Like most small start-ups, I didn't have much money at all. I self-funded initially by doing many odd jobs until I received grants from the government. It was several years before I, or anyone else, became a full time employee with the company," Servo recalls.

"About 10 years ago we secured placement on a government schedule—a contracting vehicle that makes it easier for the government to buy from pre-qualified suppliers. The SBIR legislation also changed and increased its emphasis on commercialization.  That made things easier, and we started adding customers and employees," Servo explains. “I now have a team of business coaches and have added market research, graphics, investor relations and software development departments. Most of that growth has occurred in the last 10 years." Dawnbreaker currently employs over 60 people.

Today Servo sees many entrepreneurs looking to start small advanced technology businesses. "My advice to them is to be persistent, be willing to put in a lot of time, be willing to fail and then be sure to learn from those failures. Seek good advisors who are willing to give advice and counsel others."

Servo has some advice for the government, too. “The government has to be concerned about how the discontinuation of their initiatives, such as the SBIR program, adversely affects small business. When they threaten to shut down these programs, it affects the very market they are trying to nurture," said Servo. Working directly with thousands of small businesses around the country, she has seen the strain that even the threat of federal budget cuts can put on research and technology development.

Looking forward, Servo wants to diversify Dawnbreaker's customer base. The stage is certainly set for growth; Servo has proven her ability to take and expand a service into a thriving business that helps exciting and new innovative technologies come to fruition across several key industries.

www.dawnbreaker.com/smallbusiness