There are funding opportunities offered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for those individuals who are entrepreneurial inclined!

If you have an idea that needs seed funding for early-stage product development, NSF’s America’s Seed Fund can assist with that. This Fund – which seeks to foster innovation and to help create businesses and jobs – was previously known as the NSF SBIR/STRR program (SBIR stands for Small Business Innovation Research while STTR stands for Small Business Technology Transfer). Importantly, this is Research and Development (R&D) funding that comes with founder-friendly terms! If funded, your company can receive guidance from NSF program directors who are experienced entrepreneurs and technologists to help you succeed.

The process of applying for American’s Seed Fund begins with the submission of a short Project Pitch to find out if your idea is a good fit.

While not every PI interested in applying to NSF might be an entrepreneur, we want to make sure our PIs in BIO know of this opportunity.  There are many examples of ideas that stemmed from basic biological research (even those funded previously by the Biological Sciences Directorate!) and where PIs have been able to garner additional funding to move their idea to product development.

More information about this, including a very informative (and short!) video, can be found HERE. If you have a general question or concern regarding this opportunity, contact the Program by email to sbir@nsf.gov.