ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Funded by the 2024 Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC), Eva Garland Consulting is conducting a pilot program designed to assist women-owned small businesses prepare and submit a Small Business Innovation Research or Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) application to the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF SBIR/STTR program supports the following topics:

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  • Advanced Manufacturing (M)
  • Advanced Materials (AM)
  • Advanced Systems for Scalable Analytics (AA)
  • Agricultural Technologies (AG)
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • Augmented and Virtual Realities (AV)
  • Biological Technologies (BT)
  • Biomedical Technologies (BM)
  • Chemical Technologies (CT)
  • Cloud and High-Performance Computing (CH)
  • Cybersecurity and Authentication (CA)
  • Digital Health (DH)
  • Distributed Ledger (DL)
  • Energy Technologies (EN)
  • Environmental Technologies (ET)
  • Human-Computer Interaction (HC)
  • Instrumentation and Hardware Systems (IH)
  • Internet of Things (I)
  • Learning and Cognition Technologies (LC)
  • Medical Devices (MD)
  • Mobility (MO)
  • Nanotechnology (N)
  • Other Topics (OT)
  • Pharmaceutical Technologies (PT)
  • Photonics (PH)
  • Power Management (PM)
  • Quantum Information Technologies (QT)
  • Robotics (R)
  • Semiconductors (S)
  • Space (SP)
  • Wireless Technologies (W)

The goals of this program are as follows:

• To increase the number of applications submitted by women-owned small businesses and to increase the number of these applications that are free of errors or omissions and are deemed complete, compliant, and responsive to the review criteria.
• To create a mentorship network consisting of women small business owners who have been successful in receiving NSF SBIR/STTR awards to continue to increase the participation of women in SBIR/STTR programs.

PROGRAM OUTLINE

Under this pilot program, the provided services are FREE to all small businesses who are accepted into the program. Each participant will be assigned to a coach from Eva Garland Consulting who has expertise in preparing NSF SBIR/STTR Project Pitches and full applications, and each participant will receive a free copy of the book Winning SBIR/STTR Grants: A Ten Week Plan for Preparing Your NSF Phase I Application 1^st Edition. The assigned coach will provide one hour of customized support to assist the participant in developing an NSF Project Pitch. If the participant receives an invitation from the NSF to submit a full application, they will receive three hours of customized coaching from their assigned coach, and they will be assigned a mentor from a network of women small business owners who have received NSF SBIR/STTR awards.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE

You must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• The company has not received an NSF SBIR/STTR award in the past ten years.
• The company does not have an NSF SBIR/STTR project pitch currently under review.
• The company must be established.
• The company must be considered for-profit.
• The company must be at least 50% woman owned.
• The company must be considered a small business by the SBA (<500 employees).
• At least 50% of the company’s equity must be owned by U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
• There must be someone legally employed by the company at least 20 hours per week who can serve as the project’s Principal Investigator (tech lead).
• The Principal Investigator must be able to commit at least one month (173 hours) of work on a funded project per six months of the project’s duration (6-12 months).

KEY DATES 

• Submission Portal Opens: May 8, 2024
• Submission Portal Closes: May 30, 2024 (or until all slots are filled)
• Applicants Notified: Rolling basis
• Participant letter of acceptance due: Within two business days of notification
• SBIR/STTR Submission Deadline: Project Pitches can be submitted at any time. Full applications must be submitted within one year of an invitation (accepted Project Pitch) from the NSF and during an NSF SBIR/STTR submission window.