U.S. Small Business Administration (via 11 federal agencies) · Grant
SBIR / STTR - America's Seed Fund

Equity-free federal R&D funding

From U.S. Small Business Administration (via 11 federal agencies)'s own page, checked Sep 29, 2026.

Value: Equity-free federal R&D funding. Per sbir.gov/about as of April 2026, caps are Phase I up to $323,090 and Phase II up to $2,153,927 (typical ranges on the apply page: Phase I $50K-$275K over 6-12 months; Phase II $400K-$1.8M over 24 months). Phase III is commercialization with no SBIR money.
Duration: Phase I 6-12 months; Phase II about 24 months
Who is eligible: For-profit US company, under 500 employees, owned and controlled by US citizens or permanent residents (with limits on VC ownership); needs a SAM.gov Unique Entity ID. STTR requires a formal research-institution partner.
How to claim: Review agency solicitations under 'Find Topics and Solicitations' on sbir.gov, register in SAM.gov, and submit before each agency's closing date.
Notes: Cycles vary by agency; check each solicitation. The programs lapsed on 2025-09-30 and were reauthorized on 2026-04-13 through 2031-09-30 (P.L. 119-83). That comes from secondary sources (Crowell & Moring, IEDC); sbir.gov shows no reauthorization notice. Nonprofits cannot receive awards. An accelerator cannot apply for founders but can run proposal prep; many states have free SBIR assistance programs.
Source: The partner’s official page (linked for members) — checked Sep 29, 2026. The partner’s terms always win over our summary.

About U.S. Small Business Administration (via 11 federal agencies)