USA flag logo/image

An Official Website of the United States Government

Applicants

Printer-friendly version

Welcome to the SBIR/STTR programs.

  • Are you a small business?
  • Are you exploring research and development (R&D) opportunities?
  • Are you interested in receiving funding to develop technological solutions to a wide range of issues identified by Federal Government Agencies?
     
Congress introduced the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs just for you! Every year, participating Federal Agencies award more than $2 billion in small business government grants through these programs.

Eligibility Criteria

To participate, a company must:

  • Be a small business with 500 or fewer employees
  • Be independently owned and operated
  • Be organized for profit
  • Have its principal place of business in the United States
  • Be at least 51 percent owned by U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens
In addition:
  • The primary employment of the principal investigator must be with the small business
  • The proposing firm must perform at least 2/3rd of the R&D work in Phase I and at least 1/2 in Phase II

Getting Started

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Technology oversees the SBIR and STTR Programs. Through these two competitive programs, SBA ensures that the nation's small, high-tech, innovative businesses are a significant part of the federal government's R&D efforts. Participating Federal Agencies post solicitations throughout the year. Small businesses compete by submitting proposals to these agencies. A winner in the competitive solicitation process is awarded a grant.

SBIR Program

The SBIR program provides funding to small, high-tech businesses to research, design, develop, and test new technology ideas related to specific needs defined in competitive solicitations floated by the federal agencies. The program stimulates technological innovation by funding new ideas that would not otherwise be funded, and helps introduce small business solutions into the market and to meet a wide range of Government research priorities, from national defense and renewable energy systems to new medical or educational solutions.

STTR Program

Congress started the STTR program in 1992. The program funds cooperative R&D partnerships between a small business and a research institution such as a university, Federal R&D center, or a non-profit research institute. The STTR program is an effective vehicle for moving ideas from our nation's research institutions to the market, where they can benefit both private sector and military customers. Both the SBIR and STTR programs follow a similar solicitation and award process.

Company Registry

The Company Registry maintains SBC information, tracking ownership and affiliation requirements for all companies applying to the SBIR or STTR program. All applicants to the program are required to complete their registration at SBA’s Company Registry prior to submitting an application. The SBC will report and/or update ownership information to SBA prior to each SBIR or STTR application submission. The SBC will also be able to view all of the ownership and affiliation requirements of the program on the Company Registry site. Completed registrations will receive a unique SBC Control ID and a pdf file to be used for submissions at any of the 11 participating agencies in the SBIR or STTR programs.

Ownership data collected in the Company Registry will not be shared publicly.

Submit a Proposal

Agencies post solicitations describing the technical areas and seek proposals from small businesses. Each agency has its own proposal submission guidelines. A few agencies follow an annual solicitation proposal cycle, while others float solicitations as the need arises. Agencies post solicitations on their sites as well as grants.gov. In general, an SBIR Phase I proposal submission package has the following components:

  • Business Plan
  • Executive summary
  • Cost Proposal
  • Technical Proposal

Next Steps


Hint: grants.gov is a good place to start looking for SBIR/STTR program opportunities. Just type "SBIR" in the basic search, and off you go!

External Resources

Here's a list of resources and links to the agency SBIR/STTR programs to get you started.


Participating Agencies