The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs provide non-dilutive funding to small businesses every year to develop and commercialize new technologies. Combined, these programs granted over 5,000 awards to small businesses in 2019, with budgets of ~$3.28 billion for SBIR, and ~$453 million for STTR respectively. The main difference between the two programs is that an STTR project requires the small business – which is always the applicant – to be teamed with a non-profit research institution, typically a university or Federal Laboratory. The second difference is that the STTR program is focused on the transfer of technology from the Research Institution to the small business and ultimately to the marketplace through a Phase 1-2-3 sequence.
Spinouts/startup companies based on UNC IP and emerging from the innovative work of our faculty often gain substantial early funding through both programs. UNC KickStart startups have raised almost $65m in STTR/SBIR grants over the last 10 years. Phase I awards are typically around $150,000 total costs for 1 year and Phase II awards normally do not exceed $1m. Many times, the STTR/SBIR awards are the only source of funding available to these startups and can lead to dilutive funding from venture capitalists and strategic partners later on.
However, it is not always straightforward for faculty founders to submit successful STTR/SBIR grant applications. Although SBIR/STTR grants are structured and reviewed largely like R01s and other academic grants, with an overall impact score and scores for significance, investigator(s), innovation, approach, and environment, there are also key differences. Instead of publications and further grant applications that define success for R01s, the end goal for these grants is to bring a product to market and the startup’s business plan should be integrated with the research plan, particularly in Phase II applications. There are also rules and regulations attached to these grants that relate to allowable and unallowable expenses which can make grant writing complex. Furthermore, reviewers tend to have more varied backgrounds than those involved in academic grant review panels, and can range from researchers at academic institutions, to small biotech business CEOs, to federal regulators and therefore can have different expectations.
KickStart STTR/SBIR Grant Writing Services
KickStart Venture Services (KVS) recognizes the importance of submitting winning SBIR/STTR applications and have partnered with leading grant writing service providers to assist UNC startups in the STTR/SBIR grant writing process. Our goal is to better ensure that UNC companies have a strong foundation on which to maximize commercial value of our IP.
We provide financial support for SBIR/STTR grant-writing assistance, which allows companies to receive valuable assistance navigating the complex federal grant application process and increase their chances of an award. The grant writing service providers can assist UNC startups in identifying and applying for SBIR/STTR grant funding from all of the federal agencies who participate in the SBIR/STTR program.
Using outside partner grant writing service providers, KVS will help support the following:
KVS may award up to $4,000 for Phase I assistance and up to $8,000 for Phase II and Fast-Track assistance. We have set-up a competitive process for UNC startups interested in SBIR/STTR grant application support. The criteria for receiving support includes:
If you are interested in SBIR/STTR grant application support, and meet the criteria, please contact us at kickstart@unc.edu.
KVS is also partnering with First Flight to host Program Managers from the US Small Business Administration’s (SBA) SBIR program on Monday September 14th 2020. The SBIR Road Tour is a national outreach effort connecting entrepreneurs working on advanced technologies to the country’s largest source of early stage funding – the SBIR/STTR programs. You can register for the SBIR Road Tour here and take advantage of the opportunity to meet one-on-one with federal agency Program Managers and decision makers.
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