How much funding does SBIR provide?

SBIR awards Phase I: up to $314K • Phase II: up to $2.1M.

Who can apply for SBIR grants?

To apply for SBIR your company must be: A forprofit U.S. small business (≤500 employees including affiliates) More than 50% owned and controlled by U.S. citizens or permanent residents (or, in some agencies, by other small businesses or by VCbacked f…

SBIR — Small Business Innovation Research

U.S. Federal Government (11 participating agencies)

America's Seed Fund — over $4B per year in non-dilutive R&D capital for early-stage technology startups, across 11 federal agencies.

Federal Non-dilutivePhase I + II + IIIFor-profit eligible

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Funding Amount

Phase I: up to $314K • Phase II: up to $2.1M

Deadline

Varies by agency — multiple cycles per year

Awards Issued

~6,000 awards / year

Grant Type

federal

Overview

SBIR is the largest source of early-stage non-dilutive funding for small technology companies in the United States. Eleven federal agencies — including DoD, NIH, NSF, DOE, NASA, USDA, EPA, DOT, ED, DOC, and DHS — are required by law to set aside 3.2% of their extramural R&D budgets for SBIR awards. Together that's roughly $4 billion per year.

The program is structured in three phases:

Phase I — feasibility. $50K–$314K over 6–12 months. Prove the concept can work.
Phase II — R&D execution. $750K–$2.1M over ~24 months. Develop the prototype or technology.
Phase III — commercialization. No SBIR funds — but agencies can use SBIR-derived sole-source contracts to fund follow-on work, and Phase III is the bridge to government and commercial markets.

SBIR is intentionally open to topic in some agencies (NIH, NSF) and directed in others (DoD, DOE), where agencies post specific topics they want solved. SBIR is a grant at NIH, NSF, USDA, and a few others; it's a contract at DoD, NASA, and DHS — a key difference for IP and milestones.

Eligibility

To apply for SBIR your company must be:

A for-profit U.S. small business (≤500 employees including affiliates)
More than 50% owned and controlled by U.S. citizens or permanent residents (or, in some agencies, by other small businesses or by VC-backed firms — see the eligibility table at sbir.gov)
Operationally based in the United States
Have a Principal Investigator whose primary employment (>50%) is with the company at the time of award

Universities, nonprofits, and foreign companies are not eligible as the prime applicant — but you can subcontract to them (typically up to 33% in Phase I and 50% in Phase II).

You'll also need: a UEI from SAM.gov, registration in SBIR.gov, and (for NIH) an eRA Commons account for your PI and Authorized Organization Representative.

How to Apply

Pick your agency. Look at the SBIR.gov topic search to find an open solicitation that matches your tech. NIH and NSF take investigator-initiated applications; DoD and DOE post specific topics.
Read the solicitation carefully. Page limits, formatting, and required sections differ by agency — and the difference between "grant" and "contract" matters for milestones, IP, and reporting.
Register everywhere. SAM.gov, SBIR.gov, the agency portal (eRA Commons for NIH, DSIP for DoD, FastLane for NSF). Allow 4–8 weeks for SAM.gov.
Write the proposal. A typical Phase I has: technical volume (specific aims, technical objectives, work plan, related work), commercialization plan, budget, biographical sketches, and supporting letters.
Submit by the deadline. NIH has three standard cycles per year (Sep 5, Jan 5, Apr 5). DoD runs three open BAAs per year. NSF accepts pitches on a rolling basis followed by an invited full proposal.
Award decisions typically come 4–9 months after submission.