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eligibility and how to apply

You may be wondering, “Am I eligible for an Army SBIR or Army STTR award?” Let’s find out.

SBIR ELIGIBILITY
STTR ELIGIBILITY

Army SBIR Eligibility

Only United States-based small businesses are eligible to participate in the Army SBIR Program, and the awardee must meet all the following criteria at the time of Phase I and II awards:

  • You are a for-profit business based in the United States.
  • You have 500 or fewer employees.
  • Your principal investigator’s primary employment (more than 50 percent) must be with a small business.
  • More than 50 percent of your business is owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the United States, or by another for-profit business concern that is more than 50 percent owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the United States.
  • For awards from agencies using the authority under 15 U.S.C. § 638(dd), our program office is now accepting proposal submissions from Small Business Concerns (SBC) majority-owned by multiple Venture Capital, Hedge Funds, or Private Equity Firms (VC/HF/PEF) effective May 4, 2023.

Phase I awardees with multiple prior awards must meet the benchmark requirements for progress toward commercialization.

If you meet the above criteria, you’re eligible for an Army SBIR award! Now, it’s time to apply.  Scroll down to the How Do I Apply section below for more information.

Army STTR Eligibility

Only U.S.-based small businesses are eligible to participate in the Army STTR Program. The small business must meet all the following criteria at the time of the award:

  • You are an organized for-profit with a place of business located in the United States.
  • You have 500 or fewer employees.
  • Your company is at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens of, or permanent resident aliens in, the United States.

The nonprofit research institution must also meet certain eligibility criteria:

  • You are located in the United States.
  • You are considered one of these three definitions:
    • Nonprofit college or university
    • Domestic nonprofit research organization
    • Federally funded R&D center

If you meet the above criteria, you’re eligible for an Army STTR award! Now, it’s time to apply. Scroll down to the How Do I Apply section below for more information.

I’M ELIGIBLE. HOW DO I APPLY?

Register in SAM

Before a contract can be awarded, you must register in the System for Award Management (SAM), and provide basic information on your business capabilities so you can work with the government.

Submit Your Proposal

All SBIR or STTR Phase I or Phase II proposals for any Department of Defense (DoD) topic must be submitted through the online DoD Submission website.

After you submit your proposal to the DoD website, our expert judges evaluate each proposal on the following criteria, listed in order of importance:

  1. Soundness, technical merit and innovation of the proposed approach and its incremental progress toward topic or subtopic solution;
  2. Qualifications of the principal/key investigators, supporting staff and consultants.
  3. Qualifications include not only the ability to perform the research and development, but also the ability to commercialize the results; and
  4. The potential for commercialization (government or private sector) application and the benefits expected to accrue from this commercialization.

Register in the SBIR.gov System

A more recent element of the SBIR application process is registering on the SBIR.gov Company Registry. Once you have registered, your company will be given a SBIR ID number that you will use when applying to any SBIR agency.

THE SELECTION PROCESS

Proposal Selection and Award

If you’ve been selected for a Phase I award, the principal investigator and corporate official indicated on your proposal cover sheet will be notified by email. Please read each email carefully, paying close attention to the proposal and topic numbers.

Non-Selection and Debriefing Request

The Army SBIR and STTR programs are extremely competitive. Although your company may have submitted a good proposal, unfortunately, you may not receive an award. If your company’s proposal was not selected, the principal investigator and corporate official indicated on the proposal cover sheet will be notified by email. However, you may request a debriefing from the contracting officer listed in your notification.

Remember, there may be other opportunities for your company throughout the year as the Army participates in scheduled BAAs and other releases on an ad-hoc, rolling basis as needs arise.

Please visit the Open Topics Page to learn more about other potential opportunities.

TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

The Army SBIR Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) program provides support services to select SBIR awardees to help them better transition their technologies to U.S. Army and Department of Defense customers — at no cost to the small business.

Learn More

SBIR|STTR FRAUD, WASTE AND ABUSE

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) promotes the effective, efficient and economical operation of the U.S. Army programs and operations through audits, inspections, investigations and other reviews. Their hotline accepts tips from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement in Army programs. You will need to provide relevant and specific details of your complaint, including the identity of the person, company or organization alleged to have engaged in wrongdoing; a description of the alleged impropriety; the Army facility and program affected by the alleged misconduct; contract numbers; date(s) of alleged wrongdoing; how you are aware of the alleged impropriety; the identity of potential witnesses; and the identity and location of supporting documentation.

Click here to review the Army FWA Policy Memo.

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