Department of Energy Awards $95 Million in Small Business Grants

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced that it is awarding $95 million in grants to small businesses in 26 states through its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs.  These grants are for Phase II research, and are being awarded to 80 small businesses that demonstrated technical feasibility for innovations during their Phase I grants, which were awarded for prototype of processes development during Phase II.

The SBIR and STTR programs were established by Congress to support scientific excellence and technological innovation and to leverage small businesses to advance innovation at federal agencies, with the help of federal research funds. Small businesses that are awarded grants under these programs retain the rights to any technology they develop thank to these federal funds and are encouraged to commercialize this technology. Both SBIR and STTR programs has three distinct phases in which grants are awarded:

• Phase I explores the feasibility of innovative concepts with awards up to $225,000 and 12 months.
• Phase II is the principal R&D effort, with awards up to $1,500,000 and 2 years.
• Phase III offers opportunities to small businesses to continue their Phase I and II R&D work to pursue commercial applications of their R&D with non-SBIR/STTR funding.
  • Under Phase III, Federal agencies may award non-competitive, follow-on grants or contracts for products or processes that meet the mission needs of those agencies, or for further R&D.

For further information about the SBIR and STTR programs, click here: https://science.energy.gov/sbir/about/ 
For further information about the most recent awardees, click here: https://science.energy.gov/sbir/awards/