Is your company right for SBIR?

Is your company a good candidate for the US Government’s Small Business Innovative Research Program?

Last week the US Government released a new set of topics for its Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program.  At a high level the SBIR program is designed to enable small businesses with innovative, dual use, technologies to quickly and efficiently engage with the Government to solve their real-world problems. To date 14 different US Governmental agencies participate in the SBIR program and for FY 2021 the Federal Budget has over $2B in funding set aside for SBIR specific contracts.

At Marion Square we are repeatedly asked by perspective clients “are we a good fit for the SBIR program?”, “should we pursue SBIR work, what is involved?” With these questions in mind I thought I would provide insights and thoughts on what we at Marion Square believe are the characteristics of an ideal company to pursue SBIR contracts.

  • Majority US Owned- at least 51% of the company’s ownership must be US based

  • Less than 500 employees- the threshold of a small business definition for the SBIR program

  • Technology based- the Government is looking for technology based not services based companies

  • Dual use technology- the Government wants to invest in technologies that are not just focused on the Government markets but also have a viable commercial market.

  • Technology areas of focus- cyber security, analytics and big data, IoT, IoT security, AI/ML, DevOps and mobile

An ideal SBIR company would have a technology that is currently being utilized successfully in the commercial sector and through either product configuration or limited development work the Government could successfully use the same technology to solve Government specific problems.   The SBIR program will fund this development work and individual projects or programs within the Government will purchase the software licenses.

The Government has made procurements quicker and easier with the SBIR program, Phase 1 contract awards can take as little as two months.

If your organization is interested in better understanding the SBIR program and whether you would qualify please feel free to contact us here at Marion Square for a free consultation.

Harvey Morrison