The Small Business Innovation Research grant program, run by the Small Business Agency (SBA) invests greatly in small U.S. businesses to the tune of roughly $2.5 Billion annually.
The SBA Office of Technology has two R&D funding programs:
SBIR - Small Business Innovation Research program
STTR- Small Business Technology Transfer program
Each year, eleven federal departments and agencies are required by SBA to reserve a portion of their R&D funds for award to small high-tech business.
Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce
Department of Defense
Department of Education
Department of Energy
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Transportation
Environmental Protection Agency
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Science Foundation
What are the agencies looking to fund?
These agencies are looking to make a seed investment in order for the companies to complete a short proof-of-concept trial which, upon success, is met with larger follow-on funding. The criteria the agencies are looking for can be summed up with three questions:
Is the tech revolutionary?
Is the R&D team a strong and capable research team?
Does the end product have a market now?
Qualifying for SBIR
SBIR Qualifications:
Small businesses must meet certain eligibility criteria to participate in the SBIR program.
American-owned and independently operated
For-profit
Principal researcher employed by business
Company size limited to 500 employees
Phase I and II:
Phase Is are meant to support the exploration of the technical merit or feasibility of an idea or technology. Phase I awards are typically a total of $150,000 in funding, which is meant to cover 6 months to a year worth of costs.
Phase II are more lucrative typically ranging around $1 million per project and are meant to lead to a full on prototype.
There is also an option for commercialization assistance called Phase III. Phase III are funding from another mechanism, outside of the SBIR program and draw on other federal mechanisms such as BAAs or private investors.
STTR
STTR - Small Business Technology Transfer Program program expands funding opportunities in the federal innovation research and development arena. Central to the program is expansion of the public/private sector partnership to include the joint venture opportunities for small business and the nation’s premier nonprofit research institutions.
Each year, five federal departments and agencies are required by STTR to reserve a portion of their R&D funds for award to small business/nonprofit research institution partnerships:
Department of Defense
Department of Energy
Department of Health and Human Services
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Science Foundation
STTR Qualifications:
Small businesses must meet certain eligibility criteria to participate in the STTR Program:
American-owned and independently operated For-profit
Principal researcher need not be employed by small business
Company size limited to 500 employees (No size limit for nonprofit research institution)
The nonprofit research institution must also meet certain eligibility criteria.
Located in the US
Meet one of three definitions:
Nonprofit college or university
Domestic nonprofit research organization
Federally funded R&D center (FFRDC)
Thanks for reading.
To learn more email: daniella@eaglepointfunding.com