SBIR Grant Consultant for Small Businesses

I write and manage SBIR and STTR applications for small companies that have a real technical question to answer and a product behind it. More than $11.7M has been secured for clients through programs like AFWERX Phase I and Phase II, DOE SBIR, NSF SBIR, NIH SBIR and Army xTech, and I keep my own notes on every solicitation I work from.

Who this fits and who it does not

SBIR and STTR use the same eligibility test across all eleven participating agencies, and the test is written in federal regulation, not in agency marketing. Under 13 CFR 121.702, an awardee must be a for-profit small business that is more than 50% directly owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens or permanent resident aliens of the United States, by other small businesses that meet the same test, or (for agencies that elect it) by multiple venture capital operating companies, hedge funds or private equity firms. Together with its affiliates, the company must not have more than 500 employees. The work is performed in the United States, per the SBA SBIR/STTR Policy Directive.

• It fits a company that can describe one technical question whose answer is not yet known, with a path to a product the government or a market would buy.
• It fits a founder who will be the principal investigator, or who has a technical lead on payroll. For SBIR the PI is primarily employed by the company; for STTR the PI may sit at the partner research institution.
• It does not fit a company whose owner is in the US on a visa and holds most of the equity, a company controlled by a foreign parent, or a group that passes 500 employees once affiliates are counted. For those cases, NIH research grants have no ownership rule; see NIH R01 and R21 for companies.
• It does not fit a service business with no R&D content, or a product that only needs marketing money.

The programs were reauthorized on April 13, 2026 and run through September 30, 2031. Award ceilings as SBA publishes them: As of October 16, 2026 agencies may issue a Phase I award up to $335,937 and a Phase II award up to $2,239,578 without SBA approval (SBA, sbir.gov/about). Each agency sets its own ceilings inside those limits.

How the process works

Every agency runs its own program, so the first job is picking the right door. The mechanics differ in ways that decide the calendar:

• NSF requires a Project Pitch and an invitation before any Phase I proposal. Deadlines are fixed, three times a year.
• NIH, CDC and FDA run grants on standard receipt dates (September 5, January 5, April 5) through omnibus announcements, with Fast-Track and Direct to Phase II available at NIH.
• The Department of War is topic-bound: a company can only propose against a published topic that matches its technology, in the release window for that topic. Topics are currently released on the first Wednesday of every month.
• EPA, USDA, NASA, DOE, NOAA, NIST, DHS, DOT and ED each publish their own solicitation on their own cycle. The next dates I have verified are on the deadlines page.

Counting backward from a deadline: the registrations (SAM.gov, the SBA Company Registry, the agency portal) gate everything else and come first; then the fit check (one call), the short list of the two or three programs that are actually open to you, the proposal itself, the supplementary documents, the budget and the submission through the agency portal, followed by whatever the reviewers ask for.

My read

• Most applications lose on fit, not on writing. A beautiful proposal against the wrong topic is a zero. The hour spent reading the solicitation line by line is the best hour in the whole project.
• Registrations are the silent killer. A lapsed SAM.gov registration blocks submission on the last day. I check them on day one.
• Phase I is a feasibility study, not a product launch. Reviewers fund a clear question, a credible method and a team that can carry it out. Commercial potential matters, but it is evaluated after the technical case.
• The ownership test is where founders get surprised. Convertible notes, foreign co-founders and investor control clauses all count. I ask for the cap table before writing a word.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to be incorporated before I apply?

Yes. The eligibility test applies to the proposing concern at the time of award, and the registrations (SAM.gov, SBA Company Registry, the agency portal) require a legal entity with a UEI.

Can a university professor be the PI?

Under STTR, yes, the PI may be employed by the partner research institution. Under SBIR the PI must be primarily employed by the company, and NSF adds its own minimum time commitment. If the founder cannot be the PI, STTR or an NIH research grant is usually the better route.

How are fees structured?

A flat fee per project, scoped to the workload of the specific solicitation, with an optional 3% or 7% success fee paid only on award. I do not take work paid only through a success fee.

What is the free funding report?

A preliminary scan of the programs that are open to your company right now, with each item linked to its official page, sent by email usually within the hour. It is built for US small businesses and it is a starting point for the call, not a substitute for it.