ARPA-H

ARPA-H SBIR/STTR

Funds United States small businesses bridging health and neuroscience technologies from feasibility into advanced development.

ARPA-H operates its own Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program, publishing topic-specific calls annually aligned to current Mission Office priorities. Award sizes follow SBA statutory caps: Phase I awards are capped at $323,090 over 6 to 12 months; Phase II awards are capped at $2,153,927 over one to three years. The program deploys an estimated annual pool of approximately $40M. Unlike NIH's broad omnibus SBIR solicitations, ARPA-H SBIR/STTR calls are narrowly topic-defined — applicants must select a published topic that aligns with their technology, rather than proposing freely within a broad health mandate. Topics change each year and are aligned to ARPA-H's four Mission Offices, spanning areas such as drug delivery platforms, medical devices, digital health tools, biomanufacturing processes, and clinical infrastructure.

Eligibility follows standard SBA SBIR/STTR rules. The prime applicant must be a U.S.-registered small business with 500 or fewer employees. Universities and research organizations are excluded from Phase I lead roles but may participate as STTR research institution partners. Individuals and nonprofits are not eligible as prime applicants. All project work must be performed in the United States. Founders must hold U.S. citizenship or permanent residency. Venture-backed companies with majority VC ownership may participate under SBA's Section 5107 waiver pathway, which HHS administers for ARPA-H.

Applications are submitted through Grants.gov and eRA Commons via the standard HHS submission infrastructure. ARPA-H coordinates three receipt dates per year with NIH SBIR/STTR: September 5, January 5, and April 5. Applicants should monitor the ARPA-H website for the current annual topic list and align their Phase I scope tightly to a single published topic, demonstrating that the proposed technical approach is consistent with the high-risk, high-reward character of ARPA-H's broader mission rather than routine development work.