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I'd recommend an SBIR/STTR (or other govt grants) first for wet-lab biotechs - it's a good source of patient money while you show early technical traction. YC after you've got things rolling can be throwing gas on a fire. It was for us (Ginkgo Bioworks, S14). Awesome founder community/ partner advice / investor connections.

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SBIRs have been super effective for many people. It takes time to show technical feasibility and building up real partnerships. SBIRs are well designed for that but also don't allow you to overspend.

That's an interesting thought, SBIR then YC. How would you recommend dealing with the SF relocation issue? I ask from the prospective of a biomedical startup not in CA.

We didn't relocate to SF. We are in Boston and kept the lab and the majority of the team there while we did YC. + lots of red-eyes.

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