America's Seed Fund - The SBIR and STTR programs

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) programs invest over $4 Billion annually in non-dilutive funding to small businesses developing novel technologies with commercial potential.

Eleven Participating Agencies

Eleven federal agencies, those with extramural research and development (R&D) budgets over $100 million, have SBIR programs. Six of these agencies, those with extramural R&D budgets over $1 Billion, also have STTR programs.

Which agencies?

• The Department of Defense (DoD)
• Health & Human Services/National Institutes of Health (HHS/NIH)
• The Department of Energy (DOE)
• The National Science Foundation (NSF)
• The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• The Department of Education (ED)
• The Department of Transportation (DOT)
• The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Wait! That's twelve agencies. Technically, NOAA and NIST fall under the Department of Commerce.