NSIC Hardware Startup Prototype Contract
Backs startup and industry teams with commercialization support for NSIC Hardware Startup Prototype Contract in aerospace, defense innovation, and hardware.
The National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) programme is a component of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the U.S. Department of Defense organisation headquartered in Mountain View, California, that was founded in 2015 and renamed from DIUx in 2018. NSIC specifically targets a funding gap for U.S.-headquartered hardware startups that cannot attract venture capital because of long development …
Hardware-intensive dual-use technologies: advanced batteries, aerospace components, quantum computing hardware, space manufacturing.
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 how to apply
Sign up free to see what you submit
Sign up free to see the timeline
Guides for this application
All guides →TRL Levels Explained for Deeptech Founders
Learn what TRL levels mean, how to estimate technology readiness, and how TRL affects grants, EIC Accelerator, SBIR/STTR, funding stage, and application evidence.
DocumentsGrant Work Plan Template: Work Packages, Gantt, Milestones, and Risks
Use this grant work plan template to structure work packages, tasks, owners, deliverables, Gantt timing, dependencies, and risk registers.
Submit & reportGrant Reporting Requirements: Post-Award Reports and Compliance
Learn what grant reporting requirements cover, how financial and performance reports work, what to track after an award, and how to avoid post-award compliance mistakes.
Submit & reportSAM.gov Registration and UEI Guide for Federal Grant Applicants
Learn how SAM.gov registration, UEI numbers, Grants.gov accounts, organization profiles, workspace roles, and renewal timing fit together.
More from DIU
All grants from this funder →DIU Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO)
🇺🇸DIU · United States
Funds commercial companies prototyping advanced technology for US defense through fast Other Transaction agreements.
DIU CSO — Prototype Contract
🇺🇸DIU · United States
Provides research teams and institutions for DIU CSO Prototype Contract in artificial intelligence, defense innovation, and cybersecurity.
Dual-Use University Accelerator Challenge
🇺🇸DIU · United States
Shares a $500,000 prize pool among university-founded startups building dual-use defense tech.
ROADS Prize Challenge
🇺🇸DIU · United States
Connects teams delivering high impact prototypes with milestone support for ROADS Prize Challenge in robotics, defense innovation, and transport and mobility.
Similar grants
Browse the directory →
NASA SBIR/STTR Phase III — Sole-Source
🇺🇸NASA · United States
Offers direct follow-on commercialization agreements for United States space firms after successful early-space awards.
AFWERX Open Topic SBIR/STTR
🇺🇸AFWERX · United States
Offers AFWERX open topic support for United States small businesses with dual use ideas through an always open route.
DHS SVIP — Topic
🇺🇸DHS S&T · United States
Supports security innovation through topic-led projects that advance practical deployment of public safety technologies.
DHS SBIR Phase II (invite-only)
🇺🇸DHS S&T · United States
Supports small businesses in the United States advancing proven homeland security prototypes in a second-stage federal programme.
DHS SVIP
🇺🇸DHS · United States
Invests research teams and institutions for DHS SVIP OTA initiatives in cybersecurity, defense innovation, and artificial intelligence.
AFRL/RX Functional Materials Open BAA
🇺🇸Air Force · United States
Supports advanced functional materials research in the United States through Air Force opportunities.