Young Entrepreneur Receives SBIR Grant Funding with SBDC Assistance

Srikanth Kodeboyina came to America in 2010 from humble beginnings in India. He started off as a student at the University of Dayton and had a successful career in software development, working with Fortune 100 Corporations. Kodeboyina became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2016, enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve, and fulfilled his dream of being an entrepreneur by opening his own business. Blue Eye Soft Corporation is an IT firm that provides custom software and data solutions to nonprofit organizations, and large and medium enterprises. Although Kodeboyina had the software development expertise, he needed some guidance in the strategic planning of his business.  

Kodeboyina reached out to the Spartanburg Area Small Business Development Center (SBDC), a funded resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration, and received free counseling assistance in developing a strategic plan for his business, and help with his financial statements and network development. Kevin Weir from the SBDC also assisted Kodeboyina in applying for Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding.  

Blue Eye Soft Corporation was awarded SBIR grant funding through the 3phaseSC program, and in-kind support from the Department of Energy. The business is doing very well and just expanded into a 3830 square- foot facility in February 2018. What started out as a one-man operation has grown to a 14 person staff, and  business sales have increased by 175 percent. Kodeboyina was also recognized as the “South Carolina Young Entrepreneur of the Year” award winner for the 2019 SBA National Small Business Week awards.

“The SDBC and SBA have been very good to me,” said Kodeboyina. “I still use them today, and I tell other business owners to use them as well.”