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AI SBIR/STTR Program - Technologies for Trustworthy AI is a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that funds early-stage, high-risk technology development by U.S. small businesses focused on innovative, disruptive solutions in trustworthy AI and across all fields of science and engineering. Phase I awards provide approximately $260,000 to test feasibility over six to twelve months.
Companies that successfully complete Phase I may apply for a Phase II award of up to $1,000,000 for prototype development and scaling over two years. Eligible applicants are U.S.-based small businesses with fewer than 500 employees and at least 50% U.S. citizen equity ownership. NSF prioritizes revolutionary, commercially viable technologies with strong market potential.
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Tutorial 12 National Science Foundation (NSF) Hide Options Show Options The National Science Foundation’s SBIR and STTR programs fund disruptive technologies. Known as America’s Seed Fund powered by the National Science Foundation, the SBIR and STTR programs launch startups that often have direct ties to fundamental research.
With an annual budget of more than $8 billion, the National Science Foundation, also known as “NSF,” is the funding source for approximately 24% of all Federally supported basic research done in colleges and universities across the United States. NSF does not have a specific technology focus and is interested in funding the most innovative, impactful technologies across all fields of science and engineering.
The SBIR and STTR programs originated at NSF. The programs broad mandate allows startups to identify the problem or opportunity. You propose the technological solution You devise your business strategy, but it MUST have a market and broad impact.
At NSF commercialization is the cornerstone. The NSF SBIR/STTR program’s annual budget of about two hundred million dollars funds roughly 400 projects a year. The agency’s sweet spot is early stage, high risk technology at the pre-seed level.
The goal is to conduct research and development that overcomes significant technical hurdles to prove the feasibility of a new product, process, or service. Applicants are expected to think deeply about commercialization and develop solutions that could create significant commercial success and/or societal impact. NSF provides grants, not contracts.
Phase I awards are about $260,000 to test feasibility and conduct proof of concept research over a six to twelve month period. Only Phase I awardees can apply for a one million dollar Phase II award that is used for prototype development, scale up and testing over a period of two years. The NSF program is unique in many ways.
The Program Directors have deep technical and business expertise in a wide variety of areas. This list provides an overview of the technology areas of interest to the NSF SBIR/STTR programs. However, it is important to keep in mind that NSF encourages proposals in all areas of science and engineering.
An exact fit with one of these topic areas is not required. Most of NSF’s awardees are very small companies. In fact, 85% of the Phase I awards made during the past five years were to companies that had five or less employees and 72% were founded within the past 3 years.
In FY17, the average selection or award rate was 12% for phase I and 43% for Phase II. In trying to determine if the NSF SBIR and STTR programs provide a good opportunity for you and your company– it is recommended that you consider two things: First, Is this a genuine innovation – an approach that is highly disruptive and technically risky.
That is what NSF is looking for – not evolutionary technologies, but those that are revolutionary in nature; Second, Is there a strong case that the product or service can meet an unmet market need? NSF requires commercialization. NSF makes it easy to determine if your proposed project might be a good fit.
You just need to submit a three-page “Project Pitch” via the NSF SBIR/STTR seedfund. nsf. gov website.
The cognizant Program Director uses the Project Pitch to determine whether or not the proposed project meets the objectives of the NSF SBIR/STTR program. If it is a fit, the small business will receive an official invitation via email from the cognizant NSF Project Director. You need this official invitation in order to submit a proposal.
More details on the new application process are clearly described in the current solicitation. All interested parties are encouraged to read the Project Pitch guidelines carefully. NSF believes strongly in the benefits of connecting with others and facilitates that connection via a number of Supplements designed to encourage partnerships and commercialization.
At the Phase II level, there is a Phase IIB Supplement. At this stage of development NSF will provide a 1:2 match for up to $500K – meaning that if you secure a $1M investment, you can apply for an additional $500,000 from NSF. Another Phase II supplement is referred to as the TECP which stands for Technology Enhancement for Commercial Partnerships.
This program provides a supplement of up to $200,000 to SBIR or STTR awardees in order to pave the way for partnerships with strategic corporate partners and investors. The intent of this supplement is to provide funding for additional research that goes beyond the Phase II project’s objectives to meet the technical specifications or additional proof-of-concept requirements of the potential commercialization partner.
Recently NSF has also added a $50,000 Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) supplement to secure the services of one or more third-party service providers to assist you with a variety of commercialization activities. There are other supplements available to help startups build their team.
These include Educational Partnerships with high school students, teachers, undergraduate students, and US veterans and post-docs, as well as Institutional Partnerships. These can be explored at the following site. Another program developed by the National Science Foundation is the Innovation Corps or “I-Corps” program, a seven-week entrepreneurial education course designed to help researchers learn the art of customer discovery.
NSF awardees can participate in an abbreviated version of the I-Corps program, called the Beat-The-Odds Boot Camp. To find out more about the NSF SBIR/STTR programs be sure to visit the agency’s website and listen to the tutorial regarding the NSF solicitation process.
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION (NSF) (1) NSF’s annual SBIR/STTR budget is approximately: (2) The NSF SBIR/STTR Program Directors … (a) Have a deep technical and business expertise (b) Provide guidance and mentorship to small businesses (c) Will use the Project Pitch to determine if a proposed project is a good fit for the program (3) True or False? NSF is looking for revolutionary technologies that are technically risky.
(4) The size of an NSF Phase I SBIR/STTR award is up to: (5) True or False: Most of the NSF supplements support SBIR/STTR Phase I awards.
Agency Introductions - TUTORIAL 12 AI Artificial Intelligence BM Biomedical Technologies BT Biological Technologies CAP Commercialization Assistance Program EA Education Technologies and Applications EP Energy and Power Systems ET Environmental Technologies IIP Industrial Innovation and Partnerships IT Information Technologies IH Instrumentation and Hardware Systems NSF National Science Foundation QT Quantum Information Technologies RAHSS Research Assistantships for High School Students RET Research Experiences for Teachers REU Research Experiences for Undergraduates TECP Technology Enhancement for Commercial Partnerships VRS Veterans Research Supplements Agency Introductions - TUTORIAL 12 Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) http://www.
nsf. gov/div/index. jsp?
div=IIP NSF “America’s Seedfund” SBIR/STTR Website https://seedfund. nsf. gov/ https://seedfund.
nsf. gov/fastlane/ NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) February 2019 https://www. nsf.
gov/publications/pub_summ. jsp? ods_key=nsf19001 NSF SBIR/STTR Program Directors https://seedfund.
nsf. gov/contact/ NSF SBIR/STTR Solicitations https://seedfund. nsf.
gov/apply/ NSF SBIR/STTR Supplemental Funding https://seedfund. nsf. gov/resources/awardees/supplement/overview/ NSF SBIR/STTR Technology Topic Areas https://seedfund.
nsf. gov/portfolio/ Submitting a Project Pitch https://seedfund. nsf.
gov/project-pitch/ Agency Introductions - TUTORIAL 12 Agency Introductions - TUTORIAL 12 Agency Introductions - TUTORIAL 12
According to the current listing, eligibility includes: U. S. -based small businesses with fewer than 500 employees and at least 50% U. S. citizen equity ownership. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows up to $2,000,000 (seed funding). Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
AI SBIR/STTR Program - Technologies for Trustworthy AI is funded by National Science Foundation (NSF). Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Yes — this listing is flagged as national in scope, so applicants across the U.S. may apply, subject to the sponsor's other eligibility criteria.
Applications go through the funder's official portal — the Apply Now link on this page goes there directly.
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