Webinar Presentation
Texas SBIR/STTR Summit and Conference
The National Science Foundation’s
Small Business Programs
Ruth Shuman, Ph.D.
Program Director
Industrial Innovation and Partnerships
National Science Foundation
June 12, 2013
The SBIR and STTR Programs
Small Business Innovation
Development Act of 1982
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR):
Requirement to set aside 2.5% (now, 2.7%) for all
agencies with > $100M of external R&D funding
Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR):
Requirement to set aside 0.3% (now, 0.4%) for all
agencies with > $1B of external R&D funding
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The SBIR/STTR Program Goals
• Intended to stimulate technological
innovation in the private sector
• Primary goals:
– Strengthen the role of small business in meeting
Federal research and development needs
– Increase the commercial application of federallysupported research results
– Encourage participation by socially and economically
disadvantaged, and women-owned, small businesses
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SBIR/STTR Program Fundamentals
• Provides early-stage funding for R&D on high-risk
technologies with high potential for economic/societal
benefits
• Targets early-stage development of technology on a
commercial path
• Seeks to fund transformational, game-changing technology
• Looks for significant market opportunity
• Awards based on both technical and commercial merit
• Values academic collaboration/translation
• Strong focus on commercialization
• Encourages ties to private sector
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NSF Program Focus
• Broad, market-driven technology topics:
YOU IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM/OPPORTUNITY, PROPOSE THE
TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTION, AND DEVISE YOUR BUSINESS
STRATEGY
• NSF is an investor, not the “final customer” (NSF is
not buying your technology/product/service)
• NSF wants to see you commercialize your research
successfully
• NSF provides incentives to encourage you to find
additional investment
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SBIR
STTR
I-Corps
I/UCRC
GOALI
ERC
STC
NSF
Research
Funding
PFI : BIC / AIR
Innovation Cycle
Industry
Investors
Valley of
Death
Foundations
Small Business
University
Discovery
Original Chart by Angus Kingon
Development
Commercialization
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Reasons to Seek SBIR/STTR Funding
• Provides “pre-seed” funding to demonstrate
proof-of-concept
• Non-dilutive investment; not a loan/equity-free
• Provides validation, recognition, visibility
• May be leveraged to attract
investment/partnerships
• Allows small business to retain IP
• Values/encourages/facilitates partnerships,
which enable success
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SBIR Award Information
• Type of Award – 6 month, fixed-price grant
• Award Amount:
– Phase I not to exceed $150,000
– Phase II not to exceed $750,000
• Estimated Number of Awards – 200 Awards
(pending availability of funds)
– No obligation to make a specific number of awards
• Anticipated Phase I Funding Amount $30,000,000 (pending availability of funds)
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STTR Award Information
• Type of Award – 12 month, fixed-price grant
• Award Amount:
– Phase I not to exceed $225,000
– Phase II not to exceed $750,000
• Estimated Number of Awards – 50 Awards
(pending availability of funds)
– No obligation to make a specific number of awards
• Anticipated Phase I Funding Amount $11,250,000 (pending availability of funds)
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Eligibility Information
• Organization Requirements:
– Proposals only may be submitted by companies
that qualify as a small business
•
•
•
•
For profit business
Fewer than 500 employees
Located in the US
51% owned and controlled by US individuals
– No more than 2 proposals total per company
during the SBIR/STTR cycle ending June 13,
2013
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Eligibility Information
• Principal Investigator (PI) Limit:
– Primary employment of the PI must be with the
small business at the time the award is made
• Defined as 51% (of a 40 hour work week) or greater
– The PI must commit at least 1 calendar month
to the SBIR Phase I project; 2 calendar months
to the STTR Phase I project
– No more than 1 proposal per PI or Co-PI
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SBIR Consultant/Subaward
Information
• Small Business must perform at least 2/3
of the research, as determined by the
budget
• Consultants and/or subawardees may
perform up to 1/3 of the research, as
determined by the budget
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STTR Consultant/Subaward
Information
• Collaboration with a research institution is
required
• A minimum of 40% of the research must be
performed by the company, as measured by the
budget
• A minimum of 30% of the research must be
performed by the collaborating research
institution, as measured by the budget
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Other Important Requirements
• The submission of the same project to both
the SBIR and STTR programs is strongly
discouraged.
• For STTR proposals, it is highly desirable
that the core innovation be linked to
fundamental research previously funded by
NSF.
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Prior to Submission
• Communicate with the Program Director
– Preferred method – e-mail
– Send 1-2 page summary that discusses:
• Company/team (including experience with
previous SBIR awards)
• Market Opportunity
• Technology/innovation
• Competition
• Collaborators
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Proposal Guidelines
• Phase I
– Feasibility and proof-of-concept research focus
– Must receive a Phase I award to be eligible to
submit a Phase II proposal
• Phase II
– Prototype development and testing research
focus
NSF funding may be used for R&D only!
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Funding Criteria
• We fund high-risk, high-payback innovations
– With strong potential for commercialization
– That demonstrate strategic partnerships with research
collaborators, customers, industry partners, and equity
investors
• We do NOT fund
– Basic research
– Evolutionary optimization of existing products and
processes or modifications to broaden the scope of an
existing product, process or application
– Analytical or “market” studies of technologies
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Merit Review Criteria
• Intellectual Merit - Quality of the Research
– A sound approach for establishing technical and
commercial feasibility
– Qualified technical team
– Sufficient access to resources
– Significantly advances “state-of-the-art”
• Broader Impact – Potential impact on society
–
–
–
–
–
Commercial and societal benefits
Marketable product
Commercialization track record
Business expertise
Competitive advantage
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Commercial Potential
• Scope and Nature of the Business Opportunity:
– The addressable target market opportunity
• Is this an enabling technology
– The company/team
• Business and commercialization experience
– The product features and benefits compared to
the competition
– Intellectual Property (IP) position
– Financing and revenue model
• Positioned to attract additional investment
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SBIR Topics
• Four broad topic areas:
• Biological and Chemical Technologies (BC)
• Education Applications (EA)
• Electronics, Information and Communication
Technologies (EI)
• Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials,
Manufacturing (NM)
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STTR Topic
• Fall topic(s) to be announced
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BC Subtopic Description
• Biological and Chemical Technologies (BC):
–
–
–
–
Biological Technologies
Biomedical Technologies
Environmental Technologies
Chemical Technologies
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EA Subtopic Description
• Education Applications (EA):
– Pre-College Education
– College and Post-College Education
– STEM Educational Gaming
– Entrepreneurial Education
– Tools for Learning and Assessment
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EI Subtopic Description
• Electronics, Information and Communication
Technologies (EI):
–
–
–
–
–
Services:
Applications:
Systems:
Components:
Devices:
Security & privacy; search & mining; digital arts; financial
Mobile; collective intelligence; design/test; virtualization
HCI; robotics; wireless; instruments; energy management
MEMS; sensors; optoelectronics; RF; packaging
Optoelectronics; IC design; other novel devices
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NM Subtopic Description
• Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, and
Manufacturing (NM):
–
–
–
–
–
–
Nanomaterials, Nanomanufacturing, Nanodevices, and
Nanoinstrumentation
Electronic, Optical, and Magnetic Materials
Materials for Energy Generation and Storage
Structural Materials, Coatings, and High-Temperature
Materials
Sustainable Materials and Smart Materials
Manufacturing Equipment and Processes
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Logistics
• SBIR solicitation released twice per year (Sept. and
March)
• STTR solicitation once or twice per year
• Proposal deadlines are ~ 3 months after solicitation
release
• All proposals are externally-reviewed by domain
experts
• Reviewers: Academics, investors, industry,
entrepreneurs
• Decision made 4-5 months after proposal receipt
• Cash in the bank 7 months after proposal receipt
• Post-award, immersion in the NSF’s assistance
programs
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Guide to Proposal Submission
Please use the step-by-step user guide for
entering a SBIR or STTR Phase I proposal in
NSF’s FastLane system.
http://www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/sbir/FastLane_Step_by_Step_
Guide_Phase_I_updated_October_2011.pdf
You must register your company and PI in FastLane prior to
submitting your proposal, a process that could take 3-5 days;
You are required to provide a Dun and Bradstreet Data Universal
Numbering System (DUNS) number;
You also are required to register with the System for Award
Management database, SAM (www.sam.gov);
And, you are required to register in the SBA Company Registry.
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Awardee Demographics
Company data from FY 2012 Phase I awardees:
– 86% of Phase I awardees have 10 or fewer employees
– 90% of Phase I awardee companies were
incorporated since 2007
– 73% of Phase I awardees have never received a
Phase II award from any agency
University ties and lineage of Phase II projects
(National Academies Study, 2007):
37% involve faculty members
‒ 27% involve graduate students
‒ 25% rent/use university facilities
‒ 17% issue a subcontract to a university
‒
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Program Statistics – Past 3 Years
• Phase I: On average, 2,112 proposals received
with 338 awards made (16% funding rate)
• Phase II: On average, 303 proposals received
with 118 awards made (39% funding rate)
• Leverage: For FY2012, the Phase IIB awards (48)
were based on $94 million in third-party
investment (the vast majority private funds)
• 10-15 acquisitions of Phase II grantees each year
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Questions?
National Science Foundation
http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?org=IIP
Thank You!
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