Small Business Administration

Office of Investment and Innovation

SBA Office of Investment & Innovation

SBIR-STTR Presentation

SBA-HQ| | MARCH 2016
2 Small Business Administration

Office of Investment and Innovation (OII)

 SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation (OII) leads programs that

provide the high-growth, small business community with access to

financial capital and R&D funds to develop commercially viable

innovations.

 Our work is underpinned by public-private partnerships that operate

on or along a dynamic and economically important intersection.

Finance & 

Capital 

Technology-Driven 

Innovation 

High-Growth 

Entrepreneurship 

Research & 

Development OII
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Office of Investment and Innovation

 Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program delivers 

access to financial capital

 $4 billion authorization per year

 $23.78 billion of assets under management

 299 active SBICs

 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business 

Technology Transfer (STTR) programs

 Supports R&D and financing of cutting edge technologies

 $2.5 billion annual set aside

 ~145,000 awards granted

 ~10 patents per day

 Innovation – Supports the American high growth entrepreneurial 

ecosystem

 $4M Accelerator Program

 Start-Up America

 Demo Days

 Crowdfunding
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Mission of the SBIR/STTR Programs

To support scientific excellence and technological innovation through 

the investment of Federal research funds in critical American 

priorities to build a strong national economy...one small business at 

a time
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Goals of the SBIR/STTR Program

 Meet Federal research and 

development needs

 Increase private-sector 

commercialization of innovation 

derived from Federal research 

and development funding

 Stimulate technological 

innovation

 Foster and encourage 

participation in innovation and 

entrepreneurship by socially 

and economically 

disadvantaged persons
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History and Impact of the SBIR/STTR Programs

 SBIR was created by Roland Tibbetts

at the National Science and signed as 

a Federal wide program in 1982 by 

Ronald Reagan

 SBIR programs have awarded over 

$40 billion to research-intensive 

American small businesses

 The 450,000 engineers and scientists 

involved are one of the largest STEM 

talent concentrations in the world

 Key catalysts for thousands of small 

businesses
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The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program

 A set aside program for small business to engage in 

Federal R&D with potential for commercialization

 3.0% of the extramural research budget (FY 2015 ~2.0 

Billion in summation) for all agencies with a budget 

greater than $100M per year. Growing to 3.2% by 2017

FY 

2011

FY 

2012

FY 

2013

FY 

2014

FY 

2015

FY 

2016

FY 

2017

SBIR 2.5% 2.6% 2.7% 2.8% 2.9% 3.0% 3.2%
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Agencies that Participate in the SBIR program

 Department of Agriculture (USDA)

 Department of Commerce (DoC)

 Department of Defense (DoD)

 Department of Education (ED)

 Department of Energy (DOE)

 Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

 Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

 Department of Transportation (DOT)

 Environmental Protection agency (EPA)

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

 National Science Foundation (NSF)
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Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program

 A sister set-aside program to 

facilitate cooperative R&D 

between small business 

concerns and U.S. research 

institutions – with potential for 

commercialization

 0.35% of the extramural 

research budget (>$250 million) 

for all agencies with a budget 

greater than $1B per year. 

Growing to 0.45% by 2017

SBIR STTR

Phase 1 duration 6 months 12 months

# participating 

agencies

11 5

Size Phase I award Up to 

$150,000

Up to 

$150,000

% extramural R&D 

budget [FY16]

3.00% 0.45%

IP allocation 

agreements 

required

No Yes

RI or FFRDC 

participation 

required

No Yes

PI employment Small 

business

Small 

business or 

RI

Applicant Small 

business

Small 

business
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FY15 Combined SBIR/STTR budget
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These Programs Make a Difference 

SBIR/STTR Success Stories

• Qualcomm

• Symantec

• iRobot

• Genzyme

• Nimble Systems

• NanoMech

• Lift Labs

• Adaptec

• Ecovative Design

• Children’s Progress, Inc.

• JENTEK Sensors

• Squid

• Biogen

• Made in Space

• Natel Energy

• Intuitive Surgical

• Orbital ATK
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SBIR/STTR is a gated process - with three Phases

Phase I

Concept Development

6 months

> $150,000 

Phase II

Prototype Development

24 months

>$1,000,000

Phase III

Commercialization

No SBIR funding

Requires a solid team!
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Eligibility Criteria

 Organized as for-profit U.S. 

business 

 Small: 500 or fewer employees, 

including affiliates 

 Work must be done in the U.S. 

(with few exceptions) 

 Individual Ownership: 

 Greater than 50% U.S.- owned by individuals 

and independently operated OR 

 Greater than 50% owned and controlled by 

other business concern/s that is/are greater 

than 50% owned and controlled by one or 

more individuals OR 

 Be a concern which is more than 50% owned 

by multiple venture capital operating 

companies, hedge funds, private equity firms, 

or any combination of these. 

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Principal Investigator (PI)

 Must be employed by the SBC at time of 

award 

 Principal Investigator (PI) is not required to 

have a Ph.D./M.D. 

 The PI is required to have appropriate 

expertise to oversee project scientifically and 

technically 

 Applications may be submitted to different 

agencies for similar work 

 Awards may not be accepted from different 

agencies for duplicative projects 

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Application Process for SBIR/STTR 

Evaluation

Phase I or II 

Award

Solicitation

Topics

Proposal

Submission

Typical Application Process
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Required registrations vary by agency
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FY 2015 Distribution of Total SBIR/STTR Budget
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Snapshot Across the US for the Past 4 Fiscal Years

$943,242,568 

$94,252,434 

$100,330,887 

$110,373,004 

$113,276,847 

$113,542,054 

$116,039,532 

$116,559,492 

$145,755,424 

$181,301,959 

$203,053,528 

$226,869,733 $209,853,247 $241,623,747 

$242,720,128 

$306,327,199 

$597,255,571 

$1,089,698,609 

All Other (35)

AZ

WA

MI

AL

IL

NC

NJ

FL

PA

OH

CO

TX

MD

NY

VA

Top total award dollars went primarily to 10 states: 

CA, MA, VA, NY, MD, CO, PA, TX, OH and FL
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Pertinent Resources for Stakeholders

 SBIR Website: www.sbir.gov

 Archive Listing of Relevant Webinars

 https://www.sbir.gov/events/webinars/past

 SBIR Road Tour Website: http://www.sbirroadtour.com/

 SBIR/STTR Solicitation Listing: 

 https://www.sbir.gov/solicitation-listing/open

 Global Innovation Exchange:

 http://www.globalinnovationexchange.org/about-exchange
Small Business Administration

Two Components

Train the Trainer

Target Audience: PTACs, SBDCs, Accelerators – minimum knowledge of SBIR/STTR programs

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New Resources for Stakeholders

Coming July, 2016
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New Resources for Stakeholders

Coming July, 2016

 Target Audience

 SBCs interested in learning more 

about SBIR/STTR [Primarily 

newbies]

 FireFox, Chrome

 Will be accessed from SBIR.gov

 Open to everyone

 Better prepare companies for 

meetings with Agency personnel

 Tool for trainers

 10 Courses

 Release: July 1, 2016
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Course List

 Course 1: Program Basics

 Course 2: Finding Topics

 Course 3: Agency Introductions

 Course 4: Agency Solicitations

 Course 5: Registration Requirements

 Course 6: Proposal Preparation

 Course 7: Finding Partners

 Course 8 Accounting and Finance

 Course 9: SBIR Data Rights

 Course 10: CyberSecurity

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