SBIR 15.3 Small Business R&D Grants

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The Small Business Innovation Research (or SBIR) program is a United States Government program, coordinated by the Small Business Administration (SBA) intended to help certain small businesses conduct research and development (R&D). Funding takes the form of contracts or grants. The recipient projects must have the potential for commercialization and must meet specific U.S. Government R&D needs.

The SBIR program was created to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of federal research funds in critical American priorities to build a strong national economy ... one business at a time. In the words of program founder, Roland Tibbetts, "to provide funding for some of the best early-stage innovation ideas -- ideas that, however promising, are still too high risk for private investors, including venture capital firms."*

For the purposes of the SBIR program, the term "small business" is defined as a for-profit business with fewer than 500 employees, owned by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the United States of America.

As of September 2014, SBIR programs are in place at the following agencies*:

The SBIR program agencies award monetary contracts and/or grants in phases I and II of a three-phase program*:

1. Phase I, the startup phase, makes awards of "up to $150,000 for approximately 6 months support [for] exploration of the technical merit or feasibility of an idea or technology."
2. Phase II awards grants of "up to $1 million, for as many as 2 years," in order to facilitate expansion of Phase I results. Research and development work is performed and the developer evaluates the potential for commercialization. Up to 2014 Phase II grants were awarded exclusively to Phase I award winners but in 2014 the DOD, NIH and Education are allowed to make "direct to Phase II" awards; NIH and DARPA (part of DOD) had active solicitations for this in the Summer of 2014.
3. Phase III is intended to be the time when innovation moves from the laboratory into the marketplace. No additional SBIR set-aside funds may be awarded for Phase III. "The small business must find funding in the private sector or other non-SBIR federal agency funding."

Please note these are NOT grants to help you start a business, buy inventory and/or pay salaries for personnel! They are very specific to each department, and depends on the type of research your company conducts.

The SBIR 15.3 Army, Navy, Air Force, DARPA, MDA, and OSD invite small businesses to propose innovative solutions to topics in this solicitation. For STTR 15.C CBD, DARPA, DLA, and MDA invite small businesses and research institutions to jointly propose cooperative research and development efforts in response to topics in this solicitation.

As of September 2014, SBIR programs are in place at the following agencies*:

• Department of Agriculture

• Department of Commerce (National Institute of Standards and Technology and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

• Department of Defense

• Department of Education

• Department of Energy

• Department of Health and Human Services (National Institutes of Health)

• Department of Homeland Security

• Department of Transportation

• Environmental Protection Agency

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration

• National Science Foundation

*Information courtesy of Wikipedia

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