OPPORTUNITY:
The NSF SBIR/STTR programs support moving scientific excellence and technological innovation from the lab to the market. By funding startups and small businesses, NSF helps build a strong national economy and stimulates the creation of novel products, services, and solutions in private, public, or government sectors with potential for broad impact; strengthens the role of small business in meeting federal research and development needs; increases the commercial application of federally supported research results; and develops and expands the US workforce, especially by fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses. The NSF SBIR/STTR Phase II programs provide non-dilutive funding for the development of a broad range of technologies based on discoveries in science and engineering with potential for societal and economic impacts. Unlike fundamental or basic research activities that focus on scientific and engineering discovery itself, the NSF SBIR/STTR programs support the creation of opportunities to move use-inspired and translational discoveries out of the lab and into the market or other use at scale, through startups and small businesses. The NSF SBIR/STTR programs do not solicit specific technologies or procure goods and services. The funding provided is non-dilutive. Any invention conceived or reduced to practice with the assistance of SBIR/STTR funding is subject to the Bayh/Dole Act. NSF encourages input and participation from the full spectrum of diverse talent that society has to offer which includes underrepresented and underserved communities. NSF seeks unproven, leading-edge, technology innovations that demonstrate the following characteristics:
- The innovations are underpinned and enabled by a new scientific discovery or meaningful engineering innovation.
- The innovations still require intensive technical research and development to be fully embedded in a reliable product or service.
- The innovations have not yet been reduced to practice by anyone and it is not guaranteed, at present, that doing so is technically possible.
- The innovations provide a strong competitive advantage that is not easily replicable by competitors (even technically proficient ones).
DESCRIPTION:
The NSF SBIR/STTR programs fund broadly across scientific and engineering disciplines and do not solicit specific technologies or procure goods and services from startups and small businesses. The funding provided is non-dilutive. Any invention conceived or reduced to practice with the assistance of SBIR/STTR funding is subject to the Bayh-Dole Act. NSF encourages input and participation from the full spectrum of diverse talent that society has to offer which includes underrepresented and underserved communities. The NSF SBIR/STTR programs focus on stimulating technical innovation from diverse entrepreneurs and startups by translating new scientific and engineering discoveries emerging from the private sector, federal labs, and academia into products and services that can be scaled and commercialized into sustainable businesses with significant societal benefits.
ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS:
- Small Businesses
MATCHING FUNDS:
None.
FUNDING AVAILABLE AND APPLICATION WINDOW:
- FUNDING AVAILABILITY: $120 million
- AWARD CEILING: No limit provided in the funding notice
- AWARD Floor: $12 million
- APPLICATION DEADLINE: September 04, 2024
