About SBIR/STTR
In 1982, Congress enacted the Small Business Innovation Development Act of 1982 which established the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR Program). The statutory purpose of the SBIR Program is to strengthen the role of innovative small businesses in Federally-funded research and research and development (R/R&D). The SBIR Program is a phased process, uniform throughout the Federal Government, of soliciting proposals and awarding funding agreements for R/R&D to meet stated agency needs or missions. To stimulate and foster scientific and technological innovation, including increasing commercialization of Federal R/R&D, the program must follow a uniform competitive process of three phases: Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III. The program was reauthorized in 2000 until 2008.
Specific program purposes are to:
- stimulate technological innovation;
- use small business to meet Federal R/R&D needs;
- foster and encourage participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and by small businesses that are 51 percent owned and controlled by women, in technological innovation;
- increase private sector commercialization of innovations derived from Federal R/R&D, thereby increasing competition, productivity and economic growth.
In 1992, Congress enacted the Small Business Technology Transfer Act of 1992. The STTR Act established the Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR Program) as a pilot program that requires Federal agencies with extramural budgets for research or research and development (R/R&D) in excess of $1 billion per fiscal year to enter into funding agreements with small businesses that engage in a collaborative relationship with a research institution. The purpose of the STTR Program is to stimulate a partnership of ideas and technologies between innovative small businesses and research institutions. The program assists the small business and research communities by developing commercially-viable technologies. The STTR Program is a phased process, uniform throughout the Federal government, of soliciting proposals and awarding funding agreements for R/R&D to meet stated agency needs or missions. The program was reauthorized in 2001 until 2009.