Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program is sponsored by Various Federal Agencies (e.g., Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense). The SBIR program funds small businesses to engage in federal research and development with the potential for commercialization. It's a three-phase program: Phase I for feasibility, Phase II for development, and Phase III for commercialization with non-SBIR funds.

Topics and solicitations are known by many names including Request for Proposals (RFP), Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), or simply Topic/Solicitation. No matter what it's called, they outline specific rules and guidance on how to prepare a response, also called an application or a proposal. Participating Agencies post SBIR/STTR funding opportunities on a regular periodic basis throughout the year.

Some agencies have multiple solicitations throughout the year, while others may only have one solicitation release each year. Once you identify a relevant agency to target, learn more about that specific Funding planner with estimated dates. All agencies have a 45 day lead in period.

DHS is from September to October 2025, DoD has multiple dates, DOE is from May to August, and September to January, DOT is February to April, ED is November to January 2026, EPA is April to June, HHS is April to May, June to August, and September to November, NASA is February to April, May to June, and August to October, NOAA is November to February 2026, NSF is January to April, June to August, and USDA is June to August.

of War releases are the first Wednesday of each month, and closes the last Wednesday of the following month (e.g., opens 03/26/2025, closes 04/23/25) Select a Solicitation Status Department Of Agriculture ⮡ National Institute of Food and Agriculture ⮡ National Institute of Standards and Technology ⮡ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ⮡ Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (6) ⮡ Defense Logistics Agency ⮡ Defense Microelectronics Activity (2) ⮡ Defense Threat Reduction Agency (2) ⮡ National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ⮡ Office for Chemical and Biological Defense ⮡ Office of the Secretary of Defense (10) ⮡ Space Development Agency ⮡ Special Operations Command ⮡ Strategic Capabilities Office ⮡ Institute of Education Sciences ⮡ Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services / National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research Department of Health and Human Services (13) ⮡ Administration for Community Living ⮡ Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (7) ⮡ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ⮡ Food and Drug Administration ⮡ National Institutes of Health (3) Department of Homeland Security ⮡ Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction ⮡ Domestic Nuclear Detection Office ⮡ Domestic Nuclear Detection Office SBIR Program ⮡ Science and Technology Directorate Department of the Interior Department of Transportation Environmental Protection Agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Science Foundation (268) Nuclear Regulatory Commission Small Business Administration Showing 1-10 of 337 results Collaborative Distributed Swarm Radar Open Release Date: August 5, 2026 Open Date: August 26, 2026 Close Date: September 23, 2026 A network of radar-equipped UAS or sensors can be designed as a collaborative distributed radar team.

Phase I is to study hardware architectures and develop algorithms to simulate networked sensor configurations to quantify anticipated performance gains with...

Signal Classification and Anomaly Detection in Contested Spectral Environments Open Release Date: August 5, 2026 Open Date: August 26, 2026 Close Date: September 23, 2026 Modern military operations are conducted in contested RF spectrum environments, where adversaries’ actions produce a growing number of complex spectral signatures. The operational need for automation of RF signal classification and anomaly detection using ML...

Automated Post-Mission De-Brief and Re-Planning for Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) Missions Open Release Date: August 5, 2026 Open Date: August 26, 2026 Close Date: September 23, 2026 Modern naval operations require the ability to adapt swiftly to evolving threats, especially during multi-day missions involving CCA.

Current post-mission analysis is resource-intensive and often too slow to provide timely, actionable insights for subsequent... DIRECT TO PHASE II: Intelligent Data Analysis of Post-Mission Reporting Artifacts & Data Open Release Date: August 5, 2026 Open Date: August 26, 2026 Close Date: September 23, 2026 The U.S. Navy collects vast amounts of high-quality data for training and operational use.

While the quantity and quality of this data are crucial for advanced automation and smart systems, effectively using it presents a significant challenge. The Navy...

DIRECT TO PHASE II: Development of Customized Aerospace Lightweight, High Power, High Frequency Bandwidth, Nanocrystalline EMI Filters Open Release Date: August 5, 2026 Open Date: August 26, 2026 Close Date: September 23, 2026 The U.S. Navy is embarking on opportunities for increased aerospace platform electrification to meet its unique demands on aircraft power and propulsion systems which drives a significant need for increased power density and high temperature components.

A key...

DIRECT TO PHASE II: Edge-Deployed Explainable Digital-Twin Condition Based Maintenance CBM+ Platforms for Carrier-Based Systems Open Release Date: August 5, 2026 Open Date: August 26, 2026 Close Date: September 23, 2026 Carrier-based aviation platforms under NAVAIR generate massive, high-frequency streams of voltage, current, pressure, vibration, and temperature data across multiple subsystems—from the Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) and steam catapults to hydraulic deck...

Open Release Date: August 5, 2026 Open Date: August 26, 2026 Close Date: September 23, 2026 The challenge of this topic is to automate the weaponeering process via advanced software and embed it into hardware. It is desired to develop a full software stack to create a small footprint lethality software tool for embedded applications. This includes...

Integrating Neural Architectures for Brain-Inspired AI with Low SWAP Open Release Date: August 5, 2026 Open Date: August 26, 2026 Close Date: September 23, 2026 Current artificial intelligence (AI) systems predominantly rely on single, monolithic neural network architectures, which limits their ability to match the human brain's remarkable computational efficiency and adaptability. The human neocortex achieves this...

High Temp Semiconductor Transistors for Hot DoW Environments and Electronic Warfare Open Release Date: August 5, 2026 Open Date: August 26, 2026 Close Date: September 23, 2026 The United States Air Force seeks the development of high-temperature semiconductor transistor solutions to enable electronics operation in high temperature DoW environments and improved performance in electronic warfare (EW) applications. With the continued...

F-16 Agnostic Rapid Weapons Integration Open Release Date: August 5, 2026 Open Date: August 26, 2026 Close Date: September 23, 2026 The Department of War recognizes that legacy software airworthiness processes within the Air Force are significantly limiting the ability to field software updates for aircraft on shorter timelines to integrate software updates more rapidly into its...