Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NIFA SBIR 008541
The USDA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Phase I is a competitive grant opportunity run by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to help small businesses turn promising scientific and technical ideas into early-stage products, processes, or services with real commercial potential and/or clear public benefit. The program is geared toward applied research and development rather than fundamental research, with an emphasis on moving innovations from concept toward the marketplace. Across all topic areas, USDA especially encourages projects tied to agriculturally related manufacturing as well as alternative and renewable energy technologies, reflecting USDA's broader goals around a healthy and productive nation that is in balance with land, air, and water. The program has a long track record, having funded more than 2,000 R&D projects since 1983, and is intended to give small firms a practical on-ramp to commercialization by reducing early technical risk.
To apply for Phase I, a company must meet strict eligibility rules spelled out in the Request for Applications (RFA), and missing an eligibility requirement by the deadline can lead to the application being rejected or found ineligible for award even if it is reviewed. Applicants must qualify as a Small Business Concern (SBC) and must be registered with the Small Business Administration (SBA) for research and development purposes at the time of selection. The business, including its affiliates, must have no more than 500 employees. The small business must also be the primary performer of the work; for Phase I specifically, at least two-thirds (2/3) of the research or analytical effort (measured by budgeted expenditures) must be performed by the proposing small business rather than subcontractors or partners.
There are additional rules that often trip up applicants. If the applicant is a subsidiary, it must show that its parent company (or parent companies) is also a small business, and it must provide documentation of that status in the application package as directed by the RFA. If any parent company is a nonprofit organization, the subsidiary is not eligible to submit an SBIR application. The Project Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) must have their primary employment with the small business at the time of award and throughout the project period, meaning more than 51 percent of their time must be spent employed by the small business during the award. This requirement effectively prevents the PD/PI from being a full-time employee of another organization or university during the project. Prior federal employees must also provide documentation showing they have satisfied any post-employment restrictions by the time they submit the application.
Work location is another key constraint. For Phase I, the research and development work must be performed in the United States. Only in rare, well-justified cases (for example, when a specific material or capability is not available domestically) may a small portion be performed or sourced outside the U.S., and that requires requesting an exception after award under the program's terms and conditions and obtaining USDA NIFA approval.
The solicitation also includes a benchmark requirement aimed at companies that repeatedly win Phase I awards without advancing projects to Phase II. Any company that received at least 20 Phase I awards (from any federal agency) during FY 2016 through FY 2021 must have received at least five Phase II awards over that same period (a 25 percent Phase I-to-Phase II conversion rate) to be eligible to submit a new Phase I proposal under this solicitation. Companies with fewer than 20 Phase I awards, or no SBIR awards, are not subject to this benchmark rule.
On submissions, the program prohibits duplicate submissions of the same application to more than one topic area. However, a company may submit multiple distinct proposals in the same grant year as long as they are meaningfully different and not duplicates. The opportunity is a discretionary grant under CFDA 10.212, with an award ceiling listed as $181,500. The funding opportunity number is USDA NIFA SBIR 008541, and the original closing date shown for this specific posting is 2021-11-03. For applicants new to federal grants, NIFA points to its Grants Overview as a recommended resource for understanding the federal financial assistance process, registrations, and compliance expectations.Apply for USDA NIFA SBIR 008541
- The National Institute of Food and Agriculture in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Small Business Innovation Research Program Phase I" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.212.
- This funding opportunity was created on 2021-09-10.
- Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-11-03. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $181,500.00 in funding.
- Eligible applicants include: Others.
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| Centers of Excellence at 1890 Institutions Apply for USDA NIFA 1890COE 008561 Funding Number: USDA NIFA 1890COE 008561 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $2,000,000 |
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| Guinea Local Works Program Apply for RFI 675 21 04 Funding Number: RFI 675 21 04 Agency: Guinea USAID-Conakry Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Food Safety Outreach Competitive Grants Program Apply for USDA NIFA FSMA 008641 Funding Number: USDA NIFA FSMA 008641 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $550,000 |
| Assistive Technology Program for Farmers with Disabilities (AgrAbility) Apply for USDA NIFA SLBCD 008682 Funding Number: USDA NIFA SLBCD 008682 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $735,360 |
| Tribal Colleges Education Equity Grants Program Apply for USDA NIFA TCEG 008681 Funding Number: USDA NIFA TCEG 008681 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $130,000 |
| Specialty Crop Research Initiative Apply for USDA NIFA SCRI 008661 Funding Number: USDA NIFA SCRI 008661 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $10,000,000 |
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| Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research Grants Program Apply for USDA NIFA BRAP 008702 Funding Number: USDA NIFA BRAP 008702 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $500,000 |
| Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program Apply for USDA NIFA HSI 008701 Funding Number: USDA NIFA HSI 008701 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $1,000,000 |
| Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program Apply for USDA NIFA SLBCD 008721 Funding Number: USDA NIFA SLBCD 008721 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $360,000 |
| Crop Protection and Pest Management Competitive Grants Program Apply for USDA NIFA CPPM 008761 Funding Number: USDA NIFA CPPM 008761 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $1,000,000 |
| Women and Minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Fields Program Apply for USDA NIFA WAMS 008782 Funding Number: USDA NIFA WAMS 008782 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $100,000 |
| Small Business Innovation Research Program - Phase II Apply for USDA NIFA SBIR 008801 Funding Number: USDA NIFA SBIR 008801 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $650,000 |
| New Beginning for Tribal Students Program Apply for USDA NIFA TGP 008802 Funding Number: USDA NIFA TGP 008802 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $500,000 |
| Children, Youth, and Families at Risk Sustainable Community Projects Apply for USDA NIFA SLBCD 008803 Funding Number: USDA NIFA SLBCD 008803 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $160,000 |
| Farm Business Management and Benchmarking Competitive Grants Program Apply for USDA NIFA FBMB 008821 Funding Number: USDA NIFA FBMB 008821 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $500,000 |
| Rural Health and Safety Education Competitive Grants Program Apply for USDA NIFA RHSE 008841 Funding Number: USDA NIFA RHSE 008841 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $350,000 |
| Methyl Bromide Transition Program Apply for USDA NIFA ICGP 008881 Funding Number: USDA NIFA ICGP 008881 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $500,000 |
| ALASKA NATIVE-SERVING AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN-SERVING INSTITUTIONS EDUCATION COMPETITIVE GRANTS PROGRAM Apply for USDA NIFA AHSI 008601 Funding Number: USDA NIFA AHSI 008601 Agency: National Institute of Food and Agriculture Category: Agriculture Funding Amount: $1,000,000 |
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