Small Business Innovation

Research & Small Business

Technology Transfer

Henry Ahn

SBIR/STTR Program Director

The National Science Foundation

• SBIR/STTR Overview

• NSF SBIR Stats

• NSF SBIR within NSF (Org Chart)

• NSF SBIR/STTR Program Specifics

• Unique Features of NSF SBIR

• What We Fund/Do Not Fund

• Review Process

• Tips on Strengthening Proposal

Agenda

WHAT IS THE

NSF

SBIR/STTR

PROGRAM?

Photo Credit: Graphene Frontiers, LLC

Congressionally mandated program

Overarching aim is to help build a strong national economy

Goals include:

• stimulating technological innovation in the private sector

• increasing the commercial application of federally supported research results

SBIR began at NSF in the 1970’s

STTR added in 1992

Currently 11 federal agencies participate

The SBIR/STTR Program

The NSF:

A federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering, currently with a $7.5 billion budget

NSF SBIR/STTR:

An approximately $190 million program that aims to catalyze the commercialization of high-risk technological innovations

Funds roughly 400 companies each year

SBIR/STTR at NSF

6

SBIR De-risks Later Investments

Academia

Industry

“Valley of Death”

--Phase I--

----Supplements-----

-----Phase II------

Resourc

es A

vaila

ble

($)

Discovery Development Commercialization

Investors

Special STTR Requirements• Cooperative research agreement between small business

and university/non-profit research institution in place to protect intellectual property

• A minimum of 40% of budget allocated to the small business; a minimum of 30% of the budget goes to the university/non-profit research institution; the remaining 30% can be distributed as appropriate for the project

SBIR• 2/3 of budget allocated to the small business

SBIR v. STTR

Phase I: ~16% funding rate

Phase II: ~39% funding rate

About 10-15 Phase II companies are acquired each year

About half of all Phase II grantees raise significant third-party funding during the Phase II award as a direct result of their NSF research (~ $60 million cumulative per year)

Program Stats (Past 3 Years)

• Recipients receive training and mentorship in key business areas

• Connection to other small companies performing innovative R&D

• Winning an SBIR/STTR award signals success to investors, partners and customers

Grants That Go Beyond Funding

QUESTIONS?

Photo Credit: Graphene Frontiers, LLC

SBIR WITHIN

NSF

Photo credit: NavillumNanotechnologies, Inc.

12

Office of the Assistant Director

Grace Wang (Acting)

Deputy Assistant Director

Barry Johnson (Acting)

Industrial

Innovation and

Partnerships

(IIP)

Graciela Narcho (Acting)

Grant Opportunities for

Academic Liaison

with Industry (GOALI)

Prakash Balan

IIP Division Director &

Acting Deputy Assistant Director,

Directorate for Engineering

Barry W. Johnson

Partnerships for Innovation:

Accelerating Innovation

Research (PFI-AIR)

Barbara Kenny

Advanced Materials and

Instrumentation (MI)

Debasis Majumdar

Program Support Manager

Mary Konjevoda

Partnerships for Innovation:

Building Innovation Capacity

(PFI-BIC)

Alexandra Medina-Borja

Program Analyst

Carl Anderson

Program Analyst

Dawn Patterson

Contract Staff

Semiconductors(S),

Photonic (PH)

Devices/Materials and

Internet of Things (IoT)

Rick Schwerdtfeger

Advanced Manufacturing &

Nanotechnology (MN)

Rajesh MehtaInformation

Technologies (IT)

Peter Atherton

Electronic Hardware,

Robotics and Wireless

Technologies (EW)

Murali Nair

Chemical and Environmental

Technologies (CT)

Prakash Balan, Anna Brady-

Estevez

Biological Technologies (BT)

Ruth Shuman

Smart Health (SH)

Jesus Soriano

Education Applications

And Technologies (EA)

Glenn Larsen

Innovation Corps (I-Corps)

Lydia McClure

Steven Konsek

Academic Cluster

Acting IIP Division Director &

Deputy Division Director

Gracie Narcho

Operations Specialist

Greg Misiorek

Program Analyst

Miki Templeton

Industry & University

Cooperative Research

Program (I/UCRC)

Raffaella Montelli

AAAS Fellow,

SBIR/STTR

Eric Keys

Communications

Specialist

Kelly Monterroso

Biomedical (BM) Technologies

Henry Ahn

SBIR/STTR Program

AAAS Fellow, I-Corps

Joe Bonivel

AAAS Fellow, I/UCRC

Joe Kliegman

Senior Program Director

Other Topics (OT)

Ben Schrag

Pathways Intern

Paul Shiller

PROGRAM

SPECIFICS

Photo credit: DeviceFarm

Must be a Small Business

• Set up as a for-profit organization

• Has 500 or fewer employees (including affiliates)

• Located in the US

• >51% owned and controlled by US individuals (citizen or legal resident)

Qualifications:

NSF won’t buy anything from you

We don’t identify the application or technology space

You identify the market need and propose a tech-based solution

Broad program topics cover almost every area of technology:• Educational Technologies & Applications • Information Technologies • Semiconductors and Photonic Devices & Materials • Internet of Things• Electronic Hardware, Robotics & Wireless Technologies • Advanced Manufacturing & Nanotechnology • Advanced Materials & Instrumentation • Chemical & Environmental Technologies • Biological Technologies • Smart Health and Biomedical Technologies

Topic fit is much less important than meeting the technical and commercial requirements of the solicitation

What’s Different about NSF SBIR

R&D to overcome significant technical hurdles

• Novel, proprietary

• Prove feasibility/viability of a new product, process or service

• High technical risk, early-stage development

A significant commercial opportunity

• Game-changing technology in the chosen market/application space

• Product-market fit validated by customers/partners

What We Fund

• Basic research (i.e., research with the primary goal of knowledge creation)

• Incremental (evolutionary) improvement to an existing product or service

• Projects where:• There is no strong chance of commercial success• NSF funding can’t make a big impact on the company’s

prospects

• Analytical or “market” studies of existing technologies or products/services

What We Don’t Fund

LOGISTICAL

INFORMATION

Photo Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH

• Applications require written proposals responding to a solicitation (solicitations released 90 days before the submission deadline)

• Deadlines in June and December

• Submitting a proposal to NSF does not constitute a public disclosure. All information is treated as confidential, and proprietary details may be marked.

• Proposals are reviewed by technical and commercial experts; process may last 4-5 months

• Awards begin about 6 months from submission

Basic Application Information

• Innovative product with significant societal impact

• Strong evidence that the technology works as intended

• Understanding of the market potential, customers and commercialization strategy

• Support letters from potential partners, customers or investors

• Strong management team/advisory board

• Communication with PD’s strongly encouraged

Strengthening NSF SBIR Application

Seed funding for high technical risk, high return innovations

Focus is on commercialization – important even at Phase I

NSF is not a customer – you identify the market need

Funding is only for R&D – you will need money beyond NSF funding

Pivots are OK, but must be evidence-based

Don’t stress over submission topic or sub-topic

Communicate with the Program Director

Start early!

Key Takeaways

Contact Us:

sbir@nsf.gov

www.nsf.gov/sbir

@NSFSBIR

Henry Ahn

hahn@nsf.gov 703-292-7069

THANK YOU