America's Seed Fund

What America's Seed Fund does

America's Seed Fund, also known as the NSF SBIR/STTR program, is a congressionally mandated federal grant program administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) within its Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP). Established in 1977 and codified government-wide in 1982 under President Reagan, the program provides non-dilutive seed funding of up to $2 million per company to early-stage U.S. startups and small businesses engaged in research and development with commercial potential. The program operates two complementary mechanisms: SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) across 11 federal agencies and STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) across 5 agencies, the latter requiring mandatory partnership with research institutions such as universities, colleges, and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs).

The program's core offering is structured across two funding phases. Phase I provides up to $275,000 over 6-12 months for feasibility and proof-of-concept work, while Phase II provides up to $1,000,000 over two years for expanded R&D and commercialization development. A Phase III commercialization stage exists but is funded exclusively through private capital rather than NSF. The program takes zero equity, allowing recipients to retain 100% ownership, IP rights, and operational control — a structural distinction from venture capital. Applications are reviewed for technology innovativeness, commercial potential, and societal impact across nearly all deep-technology areas including artificial intelligence, energy, medical devices, robotics, and semiconductors.

The program awards approximately $200 million annually to roughly 400 companies, drawing from NSF's ~$9 billion congressional appropriation. Recipients span every U.S. state and territory with explicit encouragement of first-time entrepreneurs and non-traditional geographies. Notable portfolio outcomes include ThousandEyes (acquired by Cisco for $1 billion), Ginkgo BioWorks, Ekso Bionics, Atom Computing, Antora Energy, and Via Separations, demonstrating a track record of funding companies that subsequently achieved significant commercial scale. The program reaches applicants through its online portal (seedfund.nsf.gov), webinars, events, and social media channels.

Name

America's Seed Fund

Legal name

America's Seed Fund powered by NSF (National Science Foundation)

Website

https://seedfund.nsf.gov

Company type

Public

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

America's Seed Fund is a congressionally mandated NSF federal grant program providing non-dilutive seed funding of up to $2 million to early-stage U.S. startups across deep-technology areas. It awards approximately $200 million annually to about 400 companies, taking zero equity and serving all 50 states and territories.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Federal Seed Grant Program

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH), Early-Stage Venture Capital (Pre-Seed/Seed) (FSANAAAA)

Keywords

• Non-dilutive seed funding
• Federal SBIR grants
• Small business innovation
• Deep tech R&D
• Government grant program

Headquarters

HQ city

Alexandria

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. SBIR/STTR Grant Funding: America's Seed Fund provides non-dilutive grants to early-stage startups for R&D. The program awards up to $2 million per company, takes zero equity, and companies retain full IP ownership. Funding is delivered through a phased approach: Phase I (up to $275,000 for feasibility), Phase II (up to $1,000,000 for R&D), and Phase III (commercialization with no NSF funding). The program awards $200 million annually to approximately 400 companies each year.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

America's Seed Fund is the NSF-administered SBIR/STTR program, awarding non-dilutive seed grants of up to $2 million per company (Phase I up to $275,000 for feasibility; Phase II up to $1,000,000 for R&D) to early-stage U.S. startups and small businesses developing deep technologies with commercial potential. The program takes zero equity, allowing recipients to retain full IP ownership and control over their team and direction of work, and funds roughly 400 companies each year across AI, energy, medical devices, robotics, semiconductors, and other technology areas.

Product overview

America's Seed Fund powered by NSF is a congressionally-mandated federal grant program—not a commercial product or platform—that provides non-dilutive seed funding of up to $2 million to early-stage startups and small businesses engaged in research and development with commercial potential. The program operates through two complementary mechanisms: the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Program and the STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) Program, each offering Phase I and Phase II funding tracks. The program takes zero equity, allowing recipients to retain full control over their team, direction of work, and intellectual property. The program funds across nearly all technology areas including artificial intelligence, energy, medical devices, robotics, and semiconductors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• SBIR Program (Small Business Innovation Research)
• STTR Program (Small Business Technology Transfer)
• Phase I Awards
• Phase II Awards

Quantifiable outcome

• Zero equity taken - companies retain 100% ownership and IP
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Federal STTR Program (5 agencies)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1992The STTR program operates across 5 federal agencies requiring 0.45% set-aside for small businesses working with research institutions. Unlike SBIR, STTR requires partnership with eligible research institutions (colleges, universities, or FFRDCs) as sub-awardees.
• Federal SBIR Program (11 agencies)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1982The SBIR program is congressionally mandated across 11 federal agencies with extramural R&D budgets exceeding $100 million. Each agency sets aside 3.2% of funding to support small businesses. NSF serves as one of the founding agencies since the program's inception in 1977.
• Research Institutions (Universities, FFRDCs)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFor STTR Phase I proposals, minimum 40% of research must be performed by the small business proposer, and minimum 30% by the partner research institution. Partners include not-for-profit institutions focused on scientific or educational goals, colleges, universities, and Federally Funded Research and Development Centers.
• Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmerica's Seed Fund is housed within NSF's Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP). TIP works closely with the entire agency to leverage ongoing research investments and grow them at speed and scale, investing in high-tech small businesses and collaborations between academia and industry.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• DARPA: DARPA is the DOD's research arm funding breakthrough technologies for national security. It operates a similar government R&D funding model to America's Seed Fund but at much larger scale and focused on defense applications, with a longer track record of funding transformational research that yields commercial spinoffs.
• SBA (Small Business Administration): SBA is the federal agency overseeing U.S. small business support programs and partners with America's Seed Fund across the SBIR ecosystem. While broader in scope than the Seed Fund, SBA administers complementary capital and contracting programs targeted at the same small-business and deep tech founder audience.

Direct peers

• ARPA-E: ARPA-E is the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy, providing non-dilutive R&D funding to energy startups. It operates with a similar government-grant-meets-deep-tech-startup model as America's Seed Fund, but focused exclusively on transformational energy technologies.
• In-Q-Tel: In-Q-Tel is the CIA's strategic not-for-profit investor that provides non-dilutive funding to deep tech startups serving national security missions. Like America's Seed Fund, it channels government-affiliated capital to early-stage R&D without taking traditional equity, making it a direct structural peer in non-dilutive deep tech funding.
• Defense Innovation Unit (DIU): DIU accelerates commercial dual-use technology adoption by DOD, including non-dilutive contracts and prototype agreements for startups. It serves a comparable bridging role between federal funding and deep tech startups as America's Seed Fund does for NSF's R&D pipeline.
• SBIR at DOD (DoD SBIR/STTR Program): The DOD SBIR/STTR program is the largest federal SBIR program and operates under the same congressionally mandated structure as America's Seed Fund. Both programs share identical Phase I/Phase II mechanics and zero-equity grant structure, but DOD targets defense and dual-use technologies rather than NSF's broad deep tech scope.

Regional players

• Wellcome Leap: Wellcome Leap is a US-based non-profit program of the Wellcome Trust funding breakthrough science with non-dilutive capital and aggressive timelines. It mirrors America's Seed Fund's zero-equity, milestone-driven grant model but operates internationally and concentrates on health and biological sciences.
• BARDA (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority): BARDA is HHS's authority providing non-dilutive funding to advanced R&D for biomedical countermeasures. It uses a similar federal-grant-to-startups structure as America's Seed Fund but is narrowly focused on health security threats and pandemic preparedness technologies.
• Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund: The Gates Foundation's program-related investments fund global health and development startups using non-dilutive and concessional capital. It is structurally similar to America's Seed Fund as a large philanthropic grantmaker targeting science-based startups, but with a global health and developing-world focus.

Emerging players

• ARPA-H: ARPA-H is HHS's newly created health-focused ARPA modeled on DARPA, funding transformational health and biotech research with non-dilutive capital. It represents a newer entrant using the same federal grantmaking playbook as America's Seed Fund, but targeted at biomedical breakthroughs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/nsfsbir
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/NSFInnovationIIP
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-science-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments10 records

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Frequently asked questions about America's Seed Fund