Resources| SBIR and STTR Resources

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs

 

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About SBIR and STTR Programs

SBIR and STTR are the principal federal programs to fund research and development for the express purpose of commercialization. These programs are designed to stimulate small business technological innovation and cutting-edge research that addresses the nation’s most critical scientific and engineering needs, and to provide incentive to profit from its commercialization. Often times, university research results in a discovery that may have commercial potential but needs further research. The SBIR/STTR program may be a natural next step for those university investigators with commercially viable ideas that need to be proven and further developed.

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Technology administers 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 research and development efforts. Eleven federal departments participate in the SBIR program; five departments participate in the STTR program awarding $2 billion to small high-tech businesses. The U.S National Science Foundation administers the sbir.gov site on behalf of the federal government.

SBIR and STTR are Three-Phase Programs

Phase I –Exploration Phase

  • Awards of up to $100,000 for approximately 6 months to support exploration of the technical merit or feasibility of an idea or technology.

Phase II –Prototype Development Phase

  • Awards of up to $750,000, for as many as 2 years, to expand Phase I results. During this time, the R&D work is performed and the developer evaluates commercialization potential.
  • Only Phase I award winners are considered for Phase II awards.

Phase III –Commercialization Phase

  • Funding must come from non-SBIR or STTR sources to include the private sector or other non-SBIR federal agency funding. Due to the complexity of the project, Phase III may last several years.

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SBIR Overview

Under current law (pending legislation may increase these levels), federal agencies with extramural (external) research and development (R&D) budgets in excess of $100 million must allocate 2.5 percent of these funds for competitive grants to small companies. There are presently 11 participating agencies with a total of more than $2 billion available for SBIR annually. Agencies include:

  • National Science Foundation
  • Dept. of Health and Human Services (NIH, CDC, FDA)
  • Dept. of Energy
  • Dept. of Commerce (NIST)
  • Dept. of Homeland Security
  • Dept. of Defense (DoD)
  • Dept. of Agriculture
  • Dept. of Education
  • Dept. of Transportation
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration

To participate, the small businesses must meet certain eligibility criteria:

  • The company size can be as small as one person, but not greater than 500 employees
  • The company must be owned at least 51 percent by American citizens or permanent resident alien individuals and organized for profit
  • The research must be conducted in the United States
  • Additional DoD Specific Criteria
    • Work must be performed in the United States
    • During Phase I, a minimum of two-thirds of the effort must be performed by the proposing firm; a minimum of one-half of the effort in Phase II
    • The Principal Investigator must spend more than one-half of the time employed by the proposing firm

To be eligible, the company does not have to be in business before the SBIR application. The company can be formed after the SBIR funding is granted, making it an ideal vehicle for post-research commercialization funding.


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STTR Overview

STTR is a highly competitive program that reserves a specific percentage of federal R&D funding for award to small business and nonprofit research institution partners.

  • Nonprofit research laboratories are instrumental in developing high-tech innovations. But frequently, innovation is confined to the theoretical, not the practical.
  • STTR combines the strengths of both entities by introducing entrepreneurial skills to high-tech research efforts. The technologies and products are transferred from the laboratory to the marketplace. The small business profits from the commercialization, which, in turn, stimulates the U.S. economy.

Each year, the five federal departments and agencies that are required by STTR to reserve a portion of their R&D funds for award to small business/nonprofit research institution partnerships include:

  • Department of Defense (DoD)
  • Department of Energy
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • National Science Foundation

STTR Eligibility Criteria for Companies

  • 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)
  • Additional DoD Specific Criteria
    • Work must be performed in the United States
    • The small business must perform a minimum of 40 percent of the work and the research institution a minimum of 30 percent of the work in both Phase I and Phase II
    • The small business must manage and control the STTR funding agreement
    • The principal investigator may be employed at the small business or research institution

STTR Eligibility Criteria for Nonprofit Research Institutions

  • Located in the United States
  • Meet one of three definitions
  • Nonprofit college or university
  • Domestic nonprofit research organization
  • Federally funded R&D center (FFRDC)

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Small Business SBIR/STTR Success Stories

DoD

DOE - http://www.science.doe.gov/sbir/NEWWEB/success_stories.htm

NIH - http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/sbir_successes/sbir_successes.htm


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Web Resources

The key Web site to know about when you are planning to apply for federal grant funding is GRANTS.gov

GRANTS.gov is your source to FIND and APPLY for federal government grants. Before completing an application, please contact the agency you are applying to and confirm that they use GRANTS.gov.

Other key Web sites include:

Some official government Web sites that are particularly useful in the SBIR process are listed below:

Some Web sites from groups that are helpful in preparing SBIR and STTR submissions include:

There are numerous Web-based courses and other resources that contain information on the SBIR/STTR process. A recently completed series of Webinars from the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer (NCET2.org) provides a great deal if information on the program and strategies for successfully winning an award. This course repeats several times per year.


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Strategies to Capture Funding – Key Areas to Address

Know the Rules and Follow Them!

  • Know the Criteria to Participate
  • Know the Procurement Schedule
  • Due dates for proposals
  • Know the Proposal Format Requirements
  • Know the accounting Requirements
  • Register - Central Contractor Registration (CCR)

Identify Requirements and Application Areas

  • Identify existing requirements for technology and potential solutions and products
  • Identify potential application areas, operational environments and end-users

Identify Federal Funding Sources

  • Agencies/Programs/Program Managers working in specific technical and operational domain areas
  • Have funding available to support research activities
  • Use a variety of contract vehicles to award projects

Complete Competition Analysis

  • Know the current State-of-the-Art
  • Recently Completed or Current Funded Areas of Research and Programs
  • Agencies/Programs/Program Managers
  • Research Team Composition
  • Locations of Research
  • Results to Date

Develop/Refine Your Project Idea/Concept

  • Define what’s innovative
  • How will your idea advance the State-of- the-Art?
  • Impact if successful?

Develop Your Win Strategy

  • Prime vs. Subcontractor Role
  • Proposed Team Members
  • Technical Domain Experience
  • Operational Domain Experience
  • Qualifications
  • Past Performance Have funding available to support research

Contact & Brief Program Managers

  • Idea/Concept
  • Innovation/Impact
  • Team
  • Qualifications
  • Past Performance
  • Successes
  • Commercialization Strategy

Be Open to Feedback from Program Managers

  • Your Ideas can morph to form new project starts
  • Leverage your team’s intellectual capital and technical and operational domain expertise

Finalize Team

  • Agreements between team members are key
  • Identify any pre-existing intellectual property
  • Ensure roles and responsibilities are clear

Prepare and Submit Proposal