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About the NSF’s Small Business Programs

America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF awards $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across almost all areas of science and technology can receive up to $2 million to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The NSF is an independent federal agency with a budget of about $9 billion that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. For more information, visit seedfund.nsf.gov.

The history of NSF SBIR

After a career in the U.S Army Air Corps and 20 years of corporate experience, including serving as the VP of two small, high-tech firms, Roland Tibbetts was appointed as the Senior Program Officer at NSF in 1972. Tibbetts was known as a task master with well-honed instincts for enabling potentially game-changing projects. He also recognized the importance of small, high-tech firms to the economy and observed the fierce opposition they faced from other recipients when pursuing federal R&D funding.

Tibbetts envisioned a three-phase structure in order to foster the research and development (R&D) in small, high-tech businesses and push them to realize their commercial potential. He believed these firms were instrumental in converting government R&D into public benefit through technological innovation and commercial applications, therefore stimulating aggregate economic growth.

In 1977, NSF recognized the need for ongoing support for small business and instituted the Small Business Innovation Applied to National Needs program within the Engineering Division. The program was designed to tap the innovative capabilities of small firms and was the precursor to NSF’s Small Business Innovation Research program. The program’s first solicitation attracted 329 proposals from small businesses, 42 of which were funded with awards of up to $25,000 each.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan signed a government-wide SBIR program into law.

NSF Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program: Launched in 1977 by NSF as a pilot program, the SBIR program provides funding for startups and small businesses to engage in research and development with potential for commercialization. The NSF SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs have identical philosophies, review criteria, review processes and award dollar amounts. The SBIR program was codified in 1982, requiring that all federal agencies with extramural research and development budgets exceeding $100 million set aside 3.2% of their funding to support small businesses. Currently, 11 federal agencies participate in the SBIR program.

NSF Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program: The STTR program operates almost identically to the SBIR program, providing funding for startups and small businesses to engage in research and development with potential for commercialization. NSF’s SBIR and STTR programs have identical philosophies, review criteria, review processes and award dollar amounts. The critical difference is that the STTR program requires that the small business proposer include an eligible research institution as a sub-awardee on the project budget. The STTR partner is typically either a not-for-profit institution focused on scientific or educational goals (such as a college or university) or a Federally Funded Research and Development Center.

For an STTR Phase I proposal, a minimum of 40% of the research, as measured by the budget, must be performed by the small business proposer, and a minimum of 30% must be performed by the partner research institution, with the balance permitted to be allocated to either of these or to other subawards or consultants. Established in 1992, federal agencies with extramural R&D budgets that exceed $1 billion are required to reserve 0.45% of this extramural R&D budget for the STTR program. Currently five federal agencies participate in the STTR program.

Additional resources

NSF newsroom: Our newsroom features news releases, media advisories, photo galleries, and other resources for the news media. Subscribe to NSF news alerts and see a list of all NSF social media accounts.

Bio: Sethuraman Panchanathan: The official bio of Sethuraman Panchanathan, NSF’s 15th director.

Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP): The directorate that houses America’s Seed Fund at NSF. TIP works closely with the entire agency to leverage ongoing research investments and to grow them at speed and scale. TIP invests in high-tech small businesses and collaborations between academia and industry to transform discoveries into innovative commercial technologies with economical and societal benefits.

For general NSF questions, please visit the NSF’s page here. You can also find contact information for other NSF organizations here, and contact information for individuals through our staff directory.

The NSF logo (and guidance for its use) is available for use by current and former NSF awardees.

To learn more about the SBIR/STTR program at other government agencies, visit the Small Business Administration’s SBIR website.

We also have a one sheet (PDF) covering program basics and points of interest.