The National Science Foundation released its first 2011 SBIR Solicitation for the year. Anticipated funding amount for this solicitation is $45,000,000 (approximately 300 Awards). Maximum funding amount for these Phase I awards is $150,000 for the 6-month feasibility study.
There are four Main Topics with multiple subtopics under each:
Proposals will be due by June 9th.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the release of its 2010 SBIR Phase I solicitation. $45,000,000 will be available for 200-300 awards. These competitive research awards will be capped at $150,000 per award. Companies must outline how they will utilize these funds to conduct a 6-month feasibility study. Companies must prepare proposals that will address subtopics found under each of these main Topics:
Successful proposers will conduct R&D on projects that provide evidence of a commercially viable product, process, device, or system AND/OR meet an important social or economic need. All projects should have High potential commercial payback and High-risk efforts.
For more details and proposal preparation instructions, refer to the NSF solicitation.
All proposals will be due before 5:00 PM on Thursday, December 3rd (the registration process, necessary before you submit your proposal, might take a few weeks–Start early!).
The National Science Foundation has released its 2010 SBIR solicitation. This year, Phase I Awards have increased from $100,000 to $150,000.
Proposals for these 6-month awards will be due before 5:00 PM on June 9th and must address a subtopic within one of the following broad categories:
There are other changes this year, so be sure to read the solicitation carefully for full details and instructions.
Besides adhering to a specific topic and subtopic, proposals must have:
- Sufficient commercial potential to justify review
- Sufficient technical substance to justify review
- Research proposed in science, engineering, or education
All proposals are submitted through NSF's Fastlane electronic submission system. Be sure to register early as this process can take days or weeks depending on the volume of requests.
The National Science Foundation released its 2009 STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) solicitation for Phase I proposals. The Phase I budget will be limited to $150,000 and 12 months. NSF anticipates 35 Awards will be made. While a STTR requires the small business to partner with a Non-Profit Research Institute for 30-60% of the research, the small business must still control the research.
NEW with this solicitation:
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A letter of Intent is REQUIRED and must be sent to NSF by January 14, 2009. Full proposals will be due February 25th.
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The Research Investigator (RI) can now be officially recognized as a Co-PI on a STTR award. The Principal Investigator (PI) is required to be primarily employed with the small business concern at the time of award.
There is one topic–Multi-Functional Materials (MM)–with four subtopics:
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Bio-inspired Materials and Systems (BMS)
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Materials for Sustainability (MS)
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Naostructured Materials (NM)
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Smart Materials and Structures (SMS)
… if not available do not apply.
Many SBIR applicant companies make the assumption that good science is all that is needed to sell a proposal. This is an erroneous assumption. Market and commercial potential are equally as important as scientific merit.
A recent client received notice from the DoD that their proposal will not be funded due to lack of market and commercialization data. When considering re-submission they mentioned, "I guess we’ll just make something up." Don’t make it up, do your research.
Finding market and commercial data is research just like any other. Dig, dig, dig and keep digging. The internet is a good place to start, the library is also valuable. Ask us, ask a colleague, ask a sales rep. What questions should you ask?
- What is the market size? –
For your particular product, not the entire industry!
- What is your per unit manufacturing cost? (ballpark figure)
- What is your competitors sales price per unit? (How will you compete?)
And what is their share of the above market?
In addition you will need to profile a potential customer and explain your finance strategy (other than SBIR/STTR funds) needed to bring the product to market.
It’s not as daunting as it sounds. You just need to do a little research … which is what your good at, right?