NOAA SBIR — Program (Seed)
Supports United States. small businesses developing ocean and atmospheric technologies through NOAA routes.
The NOAA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programme is a federally mandated competitive grant programme for US small businesses, administered through NOAA's Technology Partnerships Office (TPO) within the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). The programme follows the standard three-phase federal SBIR structure: Phase I awards fund feasibility studies of approximately six months; Phase II awards fund full research and development; Phase III involves commercialisation using non-federal SBIR funds.
Topic areas eligible for SBIR funding reflect NOAA's science and technology priorities, including citizen science tools, data management, cloud computing, uncrewed systems, artificial intelligence, and 'omics technologies such as genomics and environmental DNA. NOAA's broader mission areas — climate research, weather prediction, severe storms, hurricane monitoring, ocean exploration, fisheries science, and marine environmental research — inform the specific topics published in each fiscal year's Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
The programme issues annual Phase I NOFOs on an irregular but roughly annual schedule; the FY 2026 NOFO had not been posted as of May 2026. Businesses interested in future announcements should monitor techpartnerships.noaa.gov and contact NOAA.SBIR@noaa.gov. Only US small businesses are eligible to apply as prime recipients.
NOAA S&T focus areas: Citizen Science, Data, Cloud Computing, Uncrewed Systems (UxS), Artificial Intelligence, 'Omics (genomics/eDNA).
Sign up free to see the funding breakdown
Sign up free to see the industries in scope
Sign up free to see the full eligibility
Sign up free to see the timeline
Sign up free to see where teams trip up