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  • GETTING

    STARTED

    GET YOUR HIGH-TECH INNOVATION FUNDED.

    FOR WHAT'S NEXT.

    America’s Seed Fund, powered by NSF invests up to $2 million in funding for startups that are developing technologies.

    WE GOT FUNDED AND SO CAN YOUR STARTUP.

    WATCH AWARDEE SUCCESS STORIES

    Mango Materials, funded 2012

    GETTING STARTED

  • THE

    QUALIFICATIONS

    WHAT WE LOOK FOR

    We help startups navigate the earliest stages of technology translation.

    When determining which startups to fund, we look for the following:
    Global
    Impact:
    Make a difference to people worldwide or revolutionize an industry.
    Ideas
    Technological Innovation:
    You need research and development funding to create new products, services, and other scalable solutions based on fundamental science or engineering. NSF does not fund straightforward engineering or incremental product development tasks.
    Expansion
    Scale:
    If you successfully bring your product or service to market, it could form the foundation for a scalable business and make a large impact in your target market.
    Check
    Market Pull:
    You have evidence that your product or service could meet an important, unmet need for your customers.

    AM I ELIGIBLE?

    To be eligible for funding, your company must adhere to the following requirements:
    • Must be a small business (fewer than 500 employees) and located in the United States.
    • At least 50% of your company’s equity must be owned by U.S. citizens or permanent residents. NSF does not fund companies that are majority-owned by multiple venture capital firms, private equity firms, or hedge funds, to participate in SBIR and STTR.
    • All funded work, including work done by consultants and contractors, needs to take place in the United States.
    • The project’s principal investigator (tech lead) must be legally employed at least 20 hours a week by the company seeking funding. The PI doesn’t need any advanced degrees.
    • The principal investigator needs to commit to at least one month (173 hours) of work on a funded project per six months of project duration.
    QUALIFICATIONS

  • SUBMIT YOUR

    PROJECT PITCH

    YOUR BREAKTHROUGH IS ABOUT

    TO HAVE A BREAKTHROUGH

    Here are the four key questions you’ll be asked to answer when submitting your pitch:

    1.
    The Technology Innovation.

    (up to 3500 characters)
    2.
    The Technical Objectives and Challenges.

    (up to 3500 characters)
    3.
    The Market Opportunity.

    (up to 1750 characters)
    4.
    The Company and Team.

    (up to 1750 characters)

    ROLLING SUBMISSIONS

    + DEADLINES

    We accept Project Pitches at any time (24/7) and 365 days a year. Typically, it takes about one month to get an official response from NSF staff.
    SUBMIT YOUR PROJECT PITCH

  • GET

    UPDATES

    FOR WHAT'S NEXT

    GET UPDATES