1,000+ Opportunities
Find the right grant
Search federal, foundation, and corporate grants with AI — or browse by agency, topic, and state.
"Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program FY26 Phase IA" is currently closed and not accepting applications.
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program FY26 Phase IA is sponsored by U.S. Department of Education (ED/IES SBIR). This solicitation requests proposals for the research and development (R&D) and evaluation of prototypes of novel education technology products where no or limited previous technological development has occurred. Awards are for 9 months.
The novel education technology product proposed must be independent from any other existing education technology prototypes or products previously developed by the small business and employ a different technological approach.
Get a weekly digest of new grants like this
A free weekly digest of new foundation and federal funding opportunities as they're added to Granted. Unsubscribe anytime.
Or search similar grants →According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Small businesses. The novel education technology product proposed must be independent from any other existing education technology prototypes or products previously developed by the small business and employ a different technological approach. The small business applicant must be a for-profit organization with no more than 500 employees and must be independently owned and operated in the U.S. by at least 51 percent US citizens or lawfully admitted residents. Each small business that applies for SBIR funding through the ED/IES must also have a Principal Investigator (PI), who must be employed by the small business at least 51 percent of the time. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows $250,000. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
The published deadline was June 29, 2026, which has passed. Check the official notice for any future application windows before investing time in a proposal.
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program FY26 Phase IA is funded by U.S. Department of Education (ED/IES SBIR). 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.
The solicitation lists 3 required documents: SAM.gov registration, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), and proposal per solicitation specs. Check the official notice for formatting and page-limit rules.
Past winners and funding trends for this program
The Department of Education's IES SBIR program is one of the most overlooked non-dilutive funding sources for education-technology startups. It funds prototypes at $250K and proven products at $1M with no equity taken. Here is how the FY2026 tracks work, what reviewers reward, and why the June 29 deadline is tighter than it looks.
Read articleThe Institute of Education Sciences released its FY26 SBIR solicitations on April 30 with a single hard deadline of June 29. The triple-track structure — Phase IA for novel concepts, Phase IB for new components, and Direct-to-Phase-II for evidence-based scale-up — codifies a sharper theory of how federal dollars should move education technology from research bench to classroom.
Read articleED/IES released its FY2026 SBIR solicitations on April 30, 2026, with Phase IA and Phase IB closing June 29 at 11AM EDT for $250,000 nine-month feasibility awards, and Direct-to-Phase-II closing the same day at 2PM EDT for $1,000,000 two-year commercialization awards. The program funds edtech for special education, general education, and education research tools — a structurally underserved category that most SBIR-active founders never consider. Direct-to-Phase-II requires evidence-based innovations originally developed by universities or non-profit research organizations, which makes it one of the cleanest IP-licensing-to-commercialization paths in the federal portfolio. Here is the eligibility analysis, the phase structure, the question deadline that already closed, and how to position for the June 29 windows.
Read article