Blue Haven Grant Consultants

What Blue Haven Grant Consultants does

Blue Haven Grant Consultants is a privately held professional services firm headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan that provides SBIR/STTR federal grant writing consulting to early-stage U.S. life sciences startups. The firm was founded circa 2012 by Charles (Charlie) Blaha, a former principal investigator who personally secured over $13 million in grant funding, served as PI on six Phase I and three Phase II SBIR awards, and sat on seven NIH study sections. The company serves sub-segments including clinical researchers, medical device innovators, biotech companies, and academic institutions, with no disclosed external funding, parent company, or institutional investors.

The firm's core service offering spans the full SBIR/STTR lifecycle — Phase I Project Evaluation through Project Completion, plus Phase II Renewal and Direct Phase II pathways — delivered by a five-person team led by co-founder Charlie Blaha, Principal John Goslow (global business law background), Lead Grant Writer Victoria Toomajian (molecular/cellular biology), and Grant Technical Writer Karen Douglas. The firm differentiates on two proprietary assets: the Significance-Innovation Analysis™, a trademarked methodology for articulating the significance and innovation criteria of SBIR/STTR applications, and the BHGC Pay Upon Award™ contingency pricing model under which clients pay only upon successful grant award, eliminating upfront financial risk for pre-seed life sciences clients. Go-to-market is sales-led through free consultations, supported by a content engine (SBIR/STTR blog, NIH All About Grants podcast summaries, FAQ pages) and a referral program paying $1,000 per converted referral. Services are delivered remotely with no disclosed geographic expansion beyond the U.S. market.

Name

Blue Haven Grant Consultants

Legal name

Blue Haven Grant Consultants

Website

https://bluehavengrantconsultants.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Blue Haven Grant Consultants is a privately held Ann Arbor, Michigan consulting firm providing SBIR/STTR grant writing services to early-stage U.S. life sciences startups under a contingency-based Pay Upon Award pricing model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Grant Writing Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Research Administration & Grants Management Support (Pre/Post-Award, Compliance) (EDAEALAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Health Program Grants Management & Administration (HLAJALAC), Results-Based Financing (RBF) & Performance-Based Grants (BPADAOAF)

Keywords

• SBIR grant writing
• STTR grant consulting
• Life sciences funding
• Federal grant applications
• Grant proposal consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Ann Arbor

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. BHGC Pay Upon Award™: The company's primary revenue model is a contingency-based pricing structure where clients only pay fees when their grant proposal is successfully awarded. This 'No Risk Pay Upon Award' model eliminates financial uncertainty for clients pursuing SBIR/STTR funding, aligning BHGC's success directly with the client's success. The company carries the risk so clients can focus on their research.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Blue Haven Grant Consultants provides end-to-end SBIR and STTR grant writing consulting services to early-stage U.S. life sciences startups, clinical researchers, medical device innovators, and academic institutions. Services span the full grant lifecycle including Project Evaluation, Proposal Preparation, Proposal Review, Project Completion, and Phase II pathways (Renewal and Direct). The firm differentiates through its proprietary Significance-Innovation Analysis™ methodology and the BHGC Pay Upon Award™ contingency-based pricing model, where clients pay only upon successful award.

Product overview

Blue Haven Grant Consultants offers grant writing consulting services as a unified offering, not a software product. Their core services include SBIR and STTR grant writing consulting with multiple service modules: Phase I Proposal Services (Project Evaluation, Proposal Preparation, Proposal Review, Project Completion), Phase II Proposal Services (Renewal Phase II, Direct Phase II), and specialized grant writing for Clinical Research, Medical Device Innovation, and Academic Institutions. The company differentiates through two key proprietary offerings: Significance-Innovation Analysis™ methodology and the BHGC Pay Upon Award™ pricing model. Their services support early-stage and pre-seed U.S. life sciences startups through the complete grant lifecycle from project inception to post-award management.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SBIR Grant Writing Consultants

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Booz Allen Hamilton: Major federal contractor whose health and life-sciences practice supports NIH, BARDA, and HHS grantees with strategy, proposal, and program management services; broad overlap with BHGC's grant lifecycle support but as part of a much larger portfolio.
• SAIC: Large federal services integrator with health and civilian portfolios including support for federally funded research programs; competes in adjacent federal R&D grant support work rather than directly with boutique SBIR writers.
• ICF International: Large professional services firm with a federal health and grants management practice supporting NIH and HHS clients; overlaps with BHGC's life-sciences grant domain but operates at vastly greater scale and breadth.
• Winbourne Consulting: Established federal-sector consultancy with a grants management practice; offers overlapping federal funding expertise but serves a broader portfolio of clients and agency missions rather than a single SBIR niche.

Others

• RTI International: Nonprofit research institute that frequently partners with or supports SBIR/STTR awardees on translational work and proposal collaboration; adjacent ecosystem participant rather than direct proposal-writing competitor.

Direct peers

• BBC Entrepreneurial Training & Consulting (BBCetc): Long-standing SBIR/STTR proposal development and commercialization consultancy serving technology and life-science startups; directly competes with BHGC for the same Phase I/II authoring and coaching engagements.
• Acclaim Federal Services: Federal grants and SBIR/STTR consulting firm that supports proposal development and commercialization strategy for small businesses; comparable offering, customer profile, and pricing model to BHGC.
• SciTech Strategics: SBIR/STTR proposal and commercialization consultancy focused on life sciences and technology startups; closely matches BHGC's vertical specialization and founder-led positioning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blue-haven-grant-consultants

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blue Haven Grant Consultants