SBIR & STTR Grants
Spartan Innovations has increased the number of startup companies winning SBIR/STTR awards from 1 in FY2016 to 13 in FY2022.
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Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant
Through the SBIR Program, 11 federal agencies make high-risk capital available to fund R&D at the nation’s most innovative small companies. Each year, federal agencies with extramural research and development budgets that exceed $100 million are required to set aside a specific percentage of that budget to be competitively awarded to small U.S. firms under the SBIR program.
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Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Grant
Modeled after the SBIR program, STTR was established as a pilot program by the Small Business Technology Transfer Act of 1992. Government agencies with R&D budgets of $1 billion or more are required to set aside a portion of these funds to finance the STTR activity.
SI’s EIRs and MIRs act as consultants, CEOs, mentors, and principal investigators for SBIR/STTR grants. SI also leverages its relationships with outside entities to host learning sessions heavily focused on SBIR/STTR grant writing and strategies. It is through these activities that SI has continuously increase the number of SBIR/STTR grants both applied for and won.
In reflection of the efforts of SI and other subsidiaries of the MSU Foundation, the MSU Research Foundation was awarded the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) prestigious Tibbetts Award in 2020. Only 7 awards were given to SBIR support organizations in 2020 and another was a partner of SI, the BBC.etc. The MSU Foundation and BBC.etc were the only 2 support organizations in Michigan to ever receive the Tibbetts Award since the SBA started the program in 1996.