The National Science Foundation runs its Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs under the public brand America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF. NSF is one of only five federal agencies — alongside DoD, HHS/NIH, DOE, and NASA — that runs both SBIR and STTR, rather than SBIR alone (USDA, for example, runs SBIR only; see CASRAI’s USDA SBIR guide for a contrasting single-program agency). For the statutory framework, phase structure, and eligibility rules common to SBIR/STTR government-wide, see CASRAI’s SBIR dictionary entry, the SBIR Phase II entry, and the SBIR/STTR reauthorization guide. This page focuses on what is specific to NSF’s implementation: award amounts, the Project Pitch requirement, the SBIR/STTR structural split, and NSF’s own proposal cycle.
Award structure: Phase I, Phase II, and Fast-Track
Per NSF’s current SBIR/STTR solicitation, awards follow three tracks:
- Phase I: up to $305,000 for 6-18 months, covering all direct costs, indirect costs, and fees (optional participation in NSF’s I-Corps program can be built into a Phase I budget).
- Phase II: up to $1,250,000, typically over 24 months, open to firms that completed a Phase I award. Combined, Phase I and Phase II can provide up to roughly $2 million in non-dilutive funding over 42-plus months.
- Fast-Track: a combined Phase I/Phase II proposal reviewed together, up to $1,555,555 total — up to $400,000 for a 6-12 month Phase I plus up to $1,155,000 for an 18-24 month Phase II — for applicants who can show enough preliminary data to justify committing to both phases at once.
NSF describes the awards as non-dilutive: the government takes no equity and there is nothing to repay. NSF reports distributing roughly $200 million or more annually across around 400 startups government-wide through this program, though the exact annual figure varies by appropriation year.
Phase IIB supplemental funding
Active Phase II awardees can apply for a Phase IIB supplement of between $50,000 and $500,000, intended to bridge the gap between an NSF award and larger follow-on commercialization funding. Unlike the base Phase I and Phase II awards, a Phase IIB supplement does require the awardee to show it has secured matching third-party funding (for example, from a venture investor, strategic partner, or non-SBIR follow-on government funding) before NSF will release the supplemental award — NSF generally matches at up to 50% of the external amount raised, up to the supplement ceiling. This is a narrower, optional matching requirement tied specifically to the Phase IIB supplement; it does not apply to the base Phase I or Phase II award (see the next section).
No cost-sharing or matching-funds requirement on the base award
A common misconception — especially among researchers used to grant programs that require institutional cost-sharing — is that STTR’s university partnership implies a matching-funds obligation. It does not. NSF’s solicitation states plainly that voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited for both SBIR and Phase I/Phase II STTR proposals; neither program requires the small business or its research-institution partner to contribute matching funds to receive the base award. The only point at which external matching funds become relevant is the optional Phase IIB supplement described above, which is a distinct, later-stage funding request, not a condition of the initial award.
SBIR vs. STTR at NSF: the subaward and co-PI difference
NSF’s SBIR and STTR programs share the same award amounts, phase structure, and Project Pitch process, but differ in one structural respect that matters directly to research administrators:
- SBIR: the small business may partner with an outside institution but is not required to. Only one PI is permitted; NSF does not allow co-PIs on an SBIR proposal.
- STTR: the small business is required to issue a subaward to a U.S. nonprofit research institution (typically a university), and the proposal must name one PI and one co-PI, with the co-PI affiliated with the research-institution partner. This is the mechanism that lets a faculty member remain a university employee while still serving in a formal, named research role on the award — something SBIR does not structurally provide for (SBIR requires the PI’s primary employment to be with the small business).
In both cases, PI (and, for STTR, co-PI) effort commitments apply: primary employment with the small business (for the SBIR PI) is defined as more than 51% of one’s working time, and minimum committed effort on the project is one calendar month of effort per six-month period for standard Phase I/II awards, or three months per six-month period under Fast-Track. For the university side of an STTR award, research administrators should treat the subaward the same as any other federal subaward — subject to the institution’s own subrecipient monitoring, F&A negotiation, and any Bayh-Dole invention-reporting obligations that attach to inventions made under the subcontracted portion of the work. See CASRAI’s guides on funding options for a university spinout and patent licensing for the adjacent university-side mechanics.
The Project Pitch: a required first step
NSF does not accept a Phase I full proposal cold. Before submitting one, an applicant must first submit a Project Pitch — a short, structured summary of the technology, the commercial or societal impact, and the technical risk involved — and receive an official email response from NSF program staff. Only pitches NSF determines are a good fit for the program’s objectives receive an invitation to submit a full Phase I proposal; a company may submit at most two Project Pitches within any 12-month period. This gatekeeping step is distinctive to NSF among the SBIR/STTR agencies and is worth planning for separately from the full-proposal deadline itself, since the pitch-review turnaround adds lead time before a full proposal can even be submitted.
Full-proposal deadlines
NSF runs SBIR/STTR full-proposal submissions on a recurring cycle rather than a single annual date, which is a further contrast with agencies such as USDA that issue one solicitation per year. Recent and upcoming full-proposal deadlines under NSF’s current solicitation cycle include July 27, 2026, November 4, 2026, and March 4, 2027, with the cycle continuing on a similar roughly four-month cadence thereafter. Exact dates shift with each new NSF solicitation number (for example, NSF 26-510 for the general program and NSF 26-511 for a pilot scientific-instrumentation emphasis), so applicants and research administrators should always confirm current deadlines directly on NSF’s SBIR/STTR solicitation page or seedfund.nsf.gov rather than relying on a past cycle’s dates.
2026 reauthorization context
NSF’s SBIR/STTR program, like every other participating agency’s, was directly affected by the lapse in the program’s underlying statutory authority on September 30, 2025, and by Congress’s subsequent five-year reauthorization. NSF’s current solicitation reflects that reauthorization, including a new higher-value “Strategic Breakthrough” Phase II award category available at agencies with larger SBIR budgets. See CASRAI’s SBIR/STTR reauthorization guide for the full statutory timeline and what a future lapse would mean for an in-progress NSF application.
How NSF’s award type compares to other agencies
NSF issues SBIR/STTR awards as grants rather than contracts, which affects reporting cadence, invoicing, and data-rights treatment compared with agencies like DoD or NASA that more often use a contract vehicle for the same program. See CASRAI’s SBIR contracts guide for that grant-versus-contract distinction across agencies, and the DoD research funding guide for how DoD’s SBIR context fits into its broader R&D funding landscape.
Frequently asked questions
Does NSF run both SBIR and STTR?
Yes. NSF is one of five agencies (with DoD, HHS/NIH, DOE, and NASA) that runs both programs under a single combined solicitation, branded America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF.
What is the maximum NSF SBIR/STTR Phase I award?
Up to $305,000 for 6-18 months. A Fast-Track proposal combining Phase I and Phase II can request up to $400,000 for the Phase I portion.
Does NSF require matching funds for STTR?
No, not for the base Phase I or Phase II award — voluntary committed cost sharing is prohibited for both SBIR and STTR. Matching third-party funds are required only for the optional, later-stage Phase IIB supplement, which is a separate request from an active Phase II awardee.
What is a Project Pitch and is it mandatory?
It is a short, required pre-proposal submission NSF uses to screen fit before inviting a full Phase I proposal. An applicant cannot submit a full Phase I proposal without first submitting a Project Pitch and receiving an NSF invitation; a company may submit up to two Project Pitches per 12-month period.
Can a university be the prime recipient of an NSF STTR award?
No. As with SBIR/STTR government-wide, the small business is always the prime awardee. Under STTR specifically, the small business issues a subaward to the university (or other nonprofit research institution), and a university-affiliated researcher can serve as co-PI, but not as the small business’s PI.
How often does NSF accept SBIR/STTR full proposals?
On a recurring multi-deadline cycle rather than once a year — recent deadlines fall in July, November, and March of each cycle. Exact dates are set by NSF’s current solicitation number and should be confirmed on seedfund.nsf.gov before planning a submission.
