Eligibility
To participate in the SBIR Program, the company must be:
- A small business with 500 or fewer employees
- Independently owned and operated and organized for profit
- Must have its principal place of business in the United States
- At least 51% owned by U.S. citizens or lawfully admitted permanent resident aliens
- In addition:
- Work must be performed in the United States
- The Principal Investigator must spend more than one-half of the time employed by the proposing firm
- A minimum of two-thirds of the research work must be performed by the proposing firm in Phase I and one-half in Phase II
To participate in the STTR Program:
- A firm must be a U.S. for-profit small business of 500 or fewer employees; there is no size limit on the research institution
- Research institution must be a U.S. college or university, Federally Funded Research and Development Center or non-profit research institution
- Work must be performed in the United States
- The small business must perform a minimum of 40 percent of the work and the research institution a minimum of 30 percent of the work in both Phase I and Phase II
- The small business must manage and control the STTR funding agreement
- The principal investigator may be employed at the small business or research institution