EnduraCure Lands NSF STTR Grant to Revolutionize Electronic Recycling

EnduraCure, LLC, based in Salt Lake City, has been awarded a highly competitive Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). This $305,000 award supports their project, "Eco-Friendly Polyimides for Next-Gen Flexible Circuitry." 

"This project addresses one of the electronics industry's most pressing sustainability challenges by engineering circularity directly into high-performance materials,” said Dennis Pruzan, EnduraCure CEO. 

The current process of recycling printed circuit boards (PCBs) is an environmental and economic bottleneck. Traditional PCBs are built for extreme durability, often using materials like conventional polyimides and epoxy resins that are thermally stable and resistant to chemical degradation.  EnduraCure is tackling this head-on by developing eco-friendly, high-performance polyimides for next-generation flexible circuitry. This breakthrough technology would enable the low-cost, scalable recovery and reuse of costly electronic components and precious metals—a huge leap toward a circular economy for electronics.

The company received a Utah Technology Innovation Funding (UTIF) microgrant from Nucleus Grow. The program is designed to assist first-time applicants in the competitive SBIR program.  

“Nucleus Grow has been an exceptional partner since the beginning—their early microgrant was instrumental in supporting our Phase I proposal,” said Dennis Pruzan.  “As we approach Phase II, we're excited to collaborate with them once again to craft an effective commercialization strategy and leverage their inter-phase bridge funding, support that will be critical as we transition from research breakthrough to market-ready solution."

Companies interested in pursuing non-dilutive research and development funding through the federal SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs can contact the Nucleus Institute at Grow@Nucleusutah.org.