SBIR/STTR (Small Business Innovation Research)
SBIR and STTR are congressionally mandated programs requiring federal agencies with large R&D budgets to fund small business innovation through phased awards — feasibility (Phase I), development (Phase II), and commercialization (Phase III), which carries sole-source follow-on authority.
The programs set aside a percentage of extramural R&D for small businesses, with STTR adding a required research-institution partnership. The phase structure is the strategic point: Phase III work "derives from, extends, or completes" prior SBIR effort and may be awarded sole-source without a J&A competition analysis, at any dollar value, by any agency — making a well-run SBIR portfolio a durable acquisition pathway, not just seed funding.
Agencies differ in topic generation, timelines, and commercialization support; DoD components run their own topic cycles. Data rights protections for SBIR-funded technical data are a defining feature and a frequent point of contention.
Regulatory Reference
15 U.S.C. 638; SBA SBIR/STTR Policy Directive
RFO Status
Program authority is statutory and outside FAR overhaul scope; implementing contract mechanics still ride on FAR/DFARS text being revised.
Category
Programs & Pathways
How AcqBot Helps
AcqBot runs end-to-end SBIR workflows — topic generation, evaluation, and phase transitions — and was itself matured under a DoD SBIR, so the platform embodies the pathway it automates.
Related glossary entries
8(a) Business Development Program
The 8(a) Business Development Program, authorized by Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act, gives SBA-certified firms owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals a nine-year term of access to sole-source and competitive set-aside federal contracts under 13 CFR Part 124.
HUBZone Program
The HUBZone program, created by the HUBZone Act of 1997 and run by SBA, steers federal contracts to small businesses that keep their principal office in a historically underutilized business zone and draw at least 35 percent of employees from HUBZone residents.
Women-Owned Small Business Program (WOSB/EDWOSB)
The Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) program, created by section 8(m) of the Small Business Act, lets contracting officers set aside contracts, and make limited sole-source awards, to SBA-certified women-owned small businesses in NAICS codes where SBA finds women-owned firms underrepresented.
Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)
A service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) is a small business at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans and certified by SBA under 13 CFR Part 128, making it eligible for set-asides and sole-source awards government-wide.