NIST SBIR Program

The NIST SBIR Program sits inside NIST's Technology Partnerships Office and backs small U.S. businesses in the United States working on measurement science and standards topics. In 2025 it carried more than $1.8 million in funding, and in 2026 that rose to more than $3 million, with topics tied to NIST laboratory priorities and the office's lab-to-market agenda. The route uses the standard two-phase SBIR structure and is limited to for-profit small businesses registered and operating in the United States. It is a grant program, runs annually, and is built for companies that can carry a focused technical problem from concept into a funded prototype or early validation effort with a NIST-facing problem statement. Strong proposals usually read like an answer to a specific NIST need rather than a broad startup pitch. The same office also handles patents and licensing, CRADAs, Bayh-Dole compliance, and iEdison tracking, so the program sits inside a larger commercialization and technology-transfer workflow for applied research.

Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.