The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Phase II | 2020 NIST SBIR 02

Opportunity Information: Apply for 2020 NIST SBIR 02

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Phase II opportunity from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is a follow-on funding competition intended only for companies that previously received an FY 2019 NIST SBIR Phase I award. This Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), listed as Funding Opportunity Number 2020 NIST SBIR 02, is designed to move the most promising Phase I results into a more mature development stage where the technology is refined, validated, and positioned for real-world use and sales.

Phase II is described as the research and development (R&D) and prototype development phase. In practical terms, NIST is looking for Phase I projects that demonstrated clear technical progress and credible commercial potential, and now need a larger, longer effort to turn that early proof-of-concept into a working prototype, a more complete technical demonstration, or a product-ready system. Applicants must submit a comprehensive Phase II application that does two things well: it lays out a detailed technical plan for the R&D work to be performed, and it presents a serious commercialization plan explaining how the final technology will be brought to market. The commercialization component is not treated as an afterthought; it is a core part of what Phase II is meant to accomplish, since the program is focused on innovations that can transition beyond the lab into paying customers and scalable deployment.

Awards under this NOFO are structured as cooperative agreements, meaning NIST expects an active federal role during the project rather than a fully hands-off grant relationship. Each award can be as high as $400,000 total, with a maximum period of performance of up to 24 months. The opportunity anticipates making about 12 awards, indicating a competitive selection process among the eligible Phase I awardees. In addition to the main technical budget, applicants may request up to $50,000 specifically for Technical and Business Assistance (TABA). TABA is intended to help small businesses strengthen areas that often determine whether a technology succeeds commercially, such as customer discovery, market research, IP strategy, regulatory planning, manufacturing planning, and other business or commercialization-focused services (the NOFO points applicants to Section 5.11 for the detailed rules and expectations for TABA use).

Finally, the opportunity includes a post-award accountability step tied to commercialization outcomes. One year after completing the Phase II R&D effort, the awardee is required to report on commercialization activities. This requirement reinforces the program’s emphasis on practical impact: NIST is not only funding development work during the 24-month project window, but also tracking whether the supported technology progresses toward market adoption, partnerships, revenue generation, licensing, or other measurable commercialization milestones after the R&D work ends.

Key administrative details include the original posting date of March 27, 2020, with an original closing date of May 26, 2020. The funding activity category is Science and Technology and other Research and Development, and the CFDA number associated with this program is 11.620. Eligibility is narrowly restricted to the specified cohort of FY 2019 NIST SBIR Phase I awardees, even though the eligibility field is broadly labeled as “Others” with clarification in the full text.

• The Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Phase II" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 11.620.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 27, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 26, 2020. (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 $400,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 12 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for 2020 NIST SBIR 02

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