Step 2 of the NSF SBIR route
NSF SBIR Phase I: funding to prove your technology can work
Phase I funds the feasibility research that stands between your idea and a credible product. It is non-dilutive: no equity, no repayment. Only companies invited from a Project Pitch can submit.
- Funding
- Up to $305,000
- Duration
- 6 to 12 months of R&D
- Timing
- Fixed submission windows following an invitation
- Who it suits
- Invited US small businesses with a defined technical risk to retire
What a winning Phase I contains
A research plan built around testable objectives and go/no-go milestones, an honest statement of technical risk, a team and facilities section that shows you can execute, and a commercialization plan reviewers believe. The technical narrative and the commercial narrative have to agree with each other.
How we work on Phase I
Your scientists own the science. We own the structure, the reviewer framing, the evidence trail and the deadline. Expect a workshop to fix the objectives, a full draft from us, two review cycles, and a final internal QA pass against the current solicitation before submission.
Budget and compliance
We build the budget and justification alongside the technical plan so the two match, and we handle registrations, letters of support and the administrative attachments that sink otherwise strong submissions.
What reviewers are looking for
- Intellectual merit: is the research genuinely novel and risky?
- Broader impacts: commercial potential and societal benefit
- Are the objectives testable within the period of performance?
- Does the team have the capability and facilities to deliver?
Where applications lose marks
- Objectives with no measurable success criteria
- A commercialization plan written the night before submission
- Understating risk to look safe, which reads as no need for NSF
- A budget that does not map to the tasks in the research plan
NSF SBIR Phase I questions we get asked
How much is an NSF SBIR Phase I award?
Phase I awards are up to $305,000 for feasibility research over 6 to 12 months, per the current NSF solicitation.
Does NSF take equity in my company?
No. SBIR funding is non-dilutive. NSF takes no equity and the award does not have to be repaid.
How long does an NSF SBIR Phase I proposal take to write?
Plan on six to ten weeks from kickoff to submission. We can work faster when an invitation window is tight.
Award values and deadlines follow the current NSF solicitation. Confirm figures at seedfund.nsf.gov.
Other NSF programs
NSF Project Pitch
Gateway to a Phase I invitation
Read the NSF Project Pitch guideNSF SBIR Phase II
Up to $1,000,000
Read the NSF SBIR Phase II guidePhase II supplements
Additional funding on top of Phase II
Read the Phase II supplements guideNSF STTR
Same award levels as SBIR Phase I and II
Read the NSF STTR guideInvited to submit a Phase I proposal?
Book a free consultation and we will map your invitation window, objectives and evidence gaps in 30 minutes.