SBIR and STTR grants reauthorized in 2026: Phase I, Phase II and how to apply

SBIR and STTR are the US government's way of paying small companies to do research and development. The money is non-dilutive: you keep your equity. For deep-tech and health startups it is often the largest source of early funding. The programs lapsed for about six months and returned in April 2026 with new rules, so older guides are out of date. This guide covers the programs and what changed.

• SBIR / STTR ProgramsNon-dilutive awards, typically $150k–$2M+Grant · U.S. Government (SBA) · United States
• NSF America's Seed FundUp to $305k Phase I, $1.25M Phase II ($1.55M via Fast-Track)Grant · National Science Foundation · United States
• NIH SBIR/STTRUp to ~$323k Phase I, ~$2.15M Phase IIGrant · National Institutes of Health · United States

What happened in 2025 and 2026

According to law firm and trade summaries:

• Lapse: SBIR and STTR authority expired on 30 September 2025, so agencies could not issue new awards.
• Reauthorization: the Small Business Innovation and Economic Security Act (S. 3971) passed the Senate on 3 March 2026 and the House on 17 March 2026, and was signed on 13 April 2026. The programs now run through 30 September 2031. One source gives the public law number as 119-83, which should be checked on congress.gov if you need it.
• Strategic breakthrough awards: a new Phase II vehicle with a ceiling of USD 30 million.
• Foreign risk screening: agencies must carry out enhanced reviews of applicants for foreign ties and security risks.
• Proposal caps: from fiscal year 2027, agencies will set limits on how many proposals a company can submit.

Read each agency's current solicitation for how these apply to the topics you are targeting.

SBIR versus STTR

• SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) funds small businesses to develop technology with commercial potential.
• STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) is similar but requires a formal partnership with a research institution such as a university or federal lab.

Participating agencies include the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy and NASA, among others. Each runs its own topics, timelines and award sizes.

Who qualifies

Eligibility is set out on sbir.gov and in each solicitation. In general, applicants must be a for-profit US small business, owned and controlled mainly by US citizens or permanent residents (or by other small businesses), with no more than 500 employees, and doing the research in the US. For SBIR the principal investigator is normally primarily employed by the business. Confirm the current ownership rules for your agency, and note the new foreign-risk screening.

How the phases work

• Phase I tests the feasibility of an idea. Awards are small and short. CreditBase lists NSF Phase I up to about USD 305,000 and NIH Phase I up to about USD 323,000.
• Phase II funds full development for companies that succeeded in Phase I. CreditBase lists NSF up to USD 1.25 million (USD 1.55 million via Fast-Track) and NIH around USD 2.15 million.
• Phase III is commercialisation, funded by non-SBIR money, often through government purchasing.

Amounts change with each solicitation, so use the current agency numbers.

How to prepare

1. Register early. You need a unique entity identifier in SAM.gov, and each agency has its own submission portal. Registration can take weeks.
2. Pick the agency and topic first. A strong match to a topic beats a polished generic proposal.
3. Write for reviewers. Show the technical risk, why you can solve it, and who will buy the result.
4. Check ownership and structure. Venture-backed companies need to confirm they qualify under their agency's ownership rules.
5. Plan for the timeline. Review takes months. Treat SBIR as a slow, strategic source, and use credits and tax benefits to fund the interim.

Other US support

See startup credits in the US, the QSBS guide and how non-US founders set up a US company.

• Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS, §1202)Exclude up to $15M (or 10× basis) of capital gainsGov. scheme · U.S. Internal Revenue Service · United States
• AWS ActivateUp to $5,000 self-serve (Founders); up to $200,000 with an Activate Provider (Portfolio)Credits · Amazon Web Services · Global
• NVIDIA InceptionFree membership + GPU/cloud credits & discountsAccelerator · NVIDIA · Global

Sources

• SBIR.gov
• Law firm summary of the reauthorization
• NSF America's Seed Fund
• NIH SEED

Values are “up to” amounts and terms change: confirm on the provider’s page before you rely on them. CreditBase is independent and not affiliated with the providers named here. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.