SBIR/STTR Grant Support for CT Companies
Calling all CT-based innovators!
Are you planning to pursue an SBIR/STTR grant this year? Don’t undertake this highly competitive process alone. CTSBDC has provided free and confidential advice on SBIR and STTR grants to 110+ Connecticut business owners and entrepreneurs, resulting in multiple grant awards for a wide range of innovative companies.
CTSBDC advisors will:
- Help you determine if your business concept is a good fit for SBIR or STTR grants
- Walk you through the grant program and process
- Review your business concept and model
- Discuss your prospects for commercialization
- Provide a review of your SBIR application, as you proceed
Our 1-on-1 advising is always free and confidential.
Join CTSBDC’s SBIR/STTR Accelerator
In addition to 1-on-1 advising, CTSBDC offers an SBIR/STTR Accelerator program several times per year. Our team of experts will guide you step-by-step toward a successful application:
- Session #1: Intro to SBIR, ABCs of SBIR/STTR
- Session #2: Assessing Your Business Concept and Business Model
- Session #3 Market Research and the Essentials of Commercialization
- Session #4: Defining Your Technological Innovation and Understanding Federal Agency Objectives
- Session #5: Overview of a Phase 1 Proposal
- Session #6: Final Showcase
Participants must apply and be accepted into the SBIR/STTR Accelerator.
Get notified about the next cohort.
The SBIR/STTR Accelerator is made possible through a partnership with The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s NHE3 initiative.
SBIR/STTR Success Story
futuresTHRIVE ’s main product is an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-backed, game-based mental health screener for children aged 4-20 that can be administered by a pediatrician at a child's "well child" annual visit. The futuresTHRIVE screener provides an assessment of the child's mental health at that time and, perhaps more importantly, a baseline that can be compared over time, facilitating an improved understanding of the factors that contribute to positive and negative mental health in our families.
Founder Wendy Ward notes the assistance that CTSBDC Business Advisor Christine Sullivan helped her with both the strategy and tactics of getting futuresTHRIVE funded. With Christine's guidance, Wendy received a $250,000 SBIR Phase 1 Grant (Small Business Innovation Research Program) and an additional grant of $100,000 for futuresTHRIVE.
What is SBIR/STTR?
Through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, the federal government awards non-dilutive funding to develop your technology and chart a path toward commercialization.
Through SBIR and STTR, the government provides businesses with grants or contracts to move your bleeding-edge, innovative technology concept forward. As of October 2024, agencies may issue a Phase I award (including modifications) up to $314,363 and a Phase II award (including modifications) up to $2,095,748 without seeking SBA approval.
These grants allow you to retain full ownership of your company and are only offered to companies doing truly innovative research and development to create game-changing technologies and thriving businesses. The application process is highly competitive, and our clients find they have a higher rate of success working with an advisor.
Is my business a good fit for an SBIR/STTR grant?
SBIR/STTR funds research and development (R&D) that advances science/engineering and can become commercial products, not general business or app development projects. Agencies look for novel technical risk and a plan to test feasibility (Phase I) and develop it further (Phase II).
Appropriate for SBIR/STTR (examples of funded work):
- New science/engineering with clear R&D
- Advanced medical/assistive hardware with novel sensing
- Aerospace manufacturing breakthroughs
- AI when it requires new methods + rigorous R&D
