Deadline: 6-Apr-22
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture is accepting applications for the Small Business Innovation Research Program to stimulate technological innovation and increase private sector commercialization among small business concerns and enable them to undertake and to obtain the benefits of research and development in order to maintain and strengthen the competitive free enterprise system and the national economy.
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is Congressionally mandated and intended to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of federal research funds to build a strong national economy by stimulating technological innovation in the private sector; strengthening the role of small business in meeting federal research and development needs; increasing the commercial application of federally supported research results; and fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses.
The aim of SBIR Phase II applications is to continue the R&D developed under Phase I with a goal to commercialize and bring the innovation to market as the Phase II project completes. Phase II will require a more comprehensive application, outlining the proposed effort in detail and the commercialization strategy for the effort. USDA-NIFA recognizes that Phase II awards may not be sufficient in either dollars or time for the firm to complete the total R/R&D and the commercialization activities required to bring the project results to a marketplace.
Funding Information
USDA NIFA plans to fund approximately forty (40) percent of the Phase II applications within each of the ten (10) topic areas identified in this RFA. The anticipated amount available for SBIR in FY 2022 is approximately $19,500,000 and for FY 2023 is approximately $19,500,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Each applicant submitting an application must qualify as a Small Business Concern (SBC) through registration with the SBA for R/R&D purposes at the time of award.
-
SBIR/STTR program eligibility requirements are in place to ensure that the funds go only to small, independent businesses within the United States. The regulations include restrictions about:
- the type of firm,
- its ownership structure, and
- the firm’s size in terms of the number of employees.
- The purpose of the requirement regarding type of firm is to target the awards to firms with an economic interest in developing the idea or research into a commercial application.
- The purpose of the ownership requirement is to limit the program to independent firms controlled by United States citizens or permanent resident aliens as a way of maximizing the likelihood that the funding will stimulate innovative activity within the United States economy.
- The purpose of the size restriction (number of employees of the firm and its affiliates) is to limit program funding to small business concerns which have a unique capacity for innovation and are more likely to be constrained by lack of access to such funding.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=337331