Georgia FAST Grant Program

Georgia FAST Grant

Funds Georgia small businesses with advisory support to strengthen early-stage innovation program bids.

The Georgia FAST Grant is a Phase 0 funding instrument administered by the University of Georgia Innovation Gateway under a Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. The program provides awards of up to $2,450 per applicant to cover the upfront cost of hiring a grant writing consultant to strengthen a company's SBIR or STTR Phase I application. UGA's Innovation Gateway received a three-year SBA FAST award of $125,000 per year beginning in 2021 — one of 33 FAST recipients nationwide that year — with a specific mandate to increase SBIR and STTR grant awards to women, historically underserved individuals, and small businesses in rural and underrepresented areas of Georgia. The program accepts applications year-round through an online Monday.com form with no fixed deadline, disbursing awards annually as SBA funds permit.

Eligible applicants must be for-profit ventures commercializing technology, incorporated in Georgia or with a primary place of business in Georgia, and capable of demonstrating proof-of-concept funding from any credible source — whether a Georgia Research Alliance award, NSF I-Corps participation, accelerator winnings, seed capital, or bootstrapped R&D. Companies must also show potential for job creation in Georgia and meet SBA small-business size standards for their NAICS code. Previous SBIR and STTR applicants who were unsuccessful are the program's primary target constituency. Award funds are applied directly toward consultant fees; the applicant selects and contracts the consultant, and the grant reimburses up to $2,450 of those costs.

For Georgia technology startups preparing their first or second federal SBIR or STTR application, the Georgia FAST Grant removes a concrete financial barrier — the consultant fee — that disproportionately affects under-resourced teams. The application process is intentionally lightweight: a single Monday.com online form submission with supporting documentation. Teams best positioned to receive an award are those with a completed proof-of-concept phase, a defined SBIR topic in mind, and a Georgia-based consultant already identified. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis by Monica Williams and the Innovation Gateway team at 110 Terrell Hall, University of Georgia, Athens.