Free Download · 2026 Edition

The Founder's
SBIR & STTR
Playbook

The definitive guide to winning non-dilutive government grants — $4B+ awarded annually to early-stage tech companies. No equity taken. No board seats. No dilution.

  • ✓ Exact award amounts for all 11 agencies (DoD, NIH, NSF, DOE and more)
  • ✓ Step-by-step application process with realistic timelines
  • ✓ The 10 proposal killers that get 40% of applications rejected
  • ✓ 2024–2025 success rates by agency — including the NSF Phase II secret (60%)
  • ✓ How Qualcomm, iRobot, and Illumina used SBIR to build category-defining companies
  • ✓ Your complete 90-day action plan from topic discovery to submission
  • ✓ 2026 landscape: reauthorization, NIH budget uncertainty, new compliance rules
$4B+
Awarded annually
11
Federal agencies
$2.15M
Max Phase II (NIH)
$0
Equity given up
📋
The Founder's SBIR & STTR Playbook
PDF · 8 pages · 834 KB · Free

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Qualcomm
8× Phase I · 4× Phase II

Received DoD SBIR awards in the 1980s to develop CDMA wireless technology before the commercial market existed. Now a $150B+ global semiconductor company.

iRobot
$16M in SBIR Funding

Used SBIR to build PackBot military robots. The navigation systems developed for the military became the foundation for the Roomba. Without SBIR, there is no Roomba.

Illumina
NIH SBIR Awardee

Early NIH SBIR grants seeded genomic sequencing technology that became the dominant global platform for human genome sequencing.

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Personalized Funding Matches
Answer 5 questions about your stage, sector, and capital needs. Get matched to your top non-dilutive funding sources — including SBIR topics open right now.
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Warm Intro Engine
Our "who do I know" network miner surfaces existing connections to the investors, mentors, and advisors you need — no cold outreach required.
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Non-Dilutive Funding Database
Curated funding opportunities updated bi-weekly across grants, competitions, accelerators, and revenue-based financing — filtered for your stage and sector.
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Founder-to-Founder Network
Connect with 500+ early-stage founders building in parallel. Share leads, co-apply for grants, find co-founders, and get peer accountability on your funding strategy.
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Application Tracker
Track every grant, accelerator, and funding application in one place. Set deadlines, track status, and never miss a submission window again.
🎮
Terminal Value Simulation
Practice startup decisions in our narrative simulation game. Navigate 24 real-world scenarios across funding, product, and team challenges — before you face them for real.

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