Industry Guide to SBIR

1. Determine if your company is eligible.

Small Businesses are eligible to apply to SBIR if they have less than 500 employees, are at least 51% U.S.-owned, and have sold your product or service to at least one non-defense commercial customer.

Review the full eligibility guidelines here.

2. Download and review our application toolkit.

Steps 3 through 8 cover the resources included in our application toolkit.

Download here.

3. View Air Force focus areas and user needs.

While the “Open Topic” allows any businesses that meets the SBIR criteria to apply, we encourage applicants to view our current list of focus areas and Air Force user needs to determine if your product or service might be desired by a certain unit.

Review the 20.1 Open Topic Focus Areas here.

4. Review application requirements and prepare to submit required materials.

Start by applying for a Phase I SBIR contract, which requires a 15-slide pitch deck and a 5-page online application.

5. Apply during the application window.

We have three application windows each year. If selected for Phase I, you will receive up to $50 thousand to work with the Air Force for 3 months to see if your solution can be adapted to meet the needs of an Air Force end-user.

Apply during the next application window from Jan. 14 to Feb. 12, 2020.

6. If selected for a Phase I contract, find an Air Force customer.

To be able to move on to Phase II or Phase III, you must locate an Air Force customer and have them sign a memorandum of agreement signifying their intention to work with your company.

To find a customer, browse the focus areas and Air Force user needs for a point of contact or attend AFWERX events like Spark Colliders, and reach out to us at support@afwerx.af.mil.

7. Apply for a Phase II contract.

If you find a match between your product and an Air Force end-user, you can apply to receive up to $3 million for a trial period of your solution with your Air Force user. A notional example of the Phase II 'Other Transaction' is here.

8. Progress to sole-source contract with any U.S. Federal Government Agency.

After the trial, you are given the right to a sole-source (i.e. no-tender competition) contract with any agency in the U.S. Federal Government. Additional resources for each phase are included below.

Phase I Application Resources

View Phase I application requirements here.

Phase II and Direct to Phase II Application Resources

View Phase II application requirements here.

Phase III Resources

As soon as a company has received a Phase I SBIR/STTR contract, they can then transition the solution sole-source to any U.S. Federal Government agency via a SBIR Phase III. This is the end goal for all of our companies that go through the SBIR/STTR process.

While SBIR/STTR Phase I and Phase II are managed and mostly funded by the SBIR/STTR office, the Phase III is quite different in the fact that is is not funded or managed by the office.

In a sense, "Phase III" is a misnomer and could be better described as “Sole-Source Government Purchase.” In general, Phase IIIs can use nearly any color of money (i.e. R&D, O&M, etc), they have no dollar amount limit, and have no time limit on when they can be enacted, meaning it’s okay if the company received the SBIR award many years ago.

Phase III refers to work that derives from, extends, or completes an effort made under prior SBIR/STTR funding agreements, but is funded by sources other than the SBIR/STTR program. Once a company has received a Phase I or II award, sole-source Phase III awards may be made to the company, since competition requirements were satisfied under Phase I and II.

Additional Resources:

• Phase III Overview
• Phase III Advanced Information
• GSA AAS Phase III Pilot Program (just one option available to assist you)