NOAA awards $10.7 million to support Small Business Innovation Research

NOAA's SBIR Program Benefits 35 U.S. Small Businesses

NOAA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program recently awarded approximately $10.7 million in grants to 35 small businesses. These awards fund the development of innovative technologies that support NOAA’s mission and the U.S. economy. This year, NOAA granted 19 Phase I and 16 Phase II SBIR awards.

The goals of the SBIR program are to stimulate technological innovation, strengthen the role of small businesses in meeting federal research and development needs, encourage participation by socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses, and increase private sector commercialization of innovations derived from federal research and development funding. Small businesses apply to participate in NOAA’s SBIR program during annual notices of funding opportunities. Grant proposals are reviewed by technical experts within and outside of NOAA, and are evaluated based on their scientific merit, commercialization potential, and alignment with NOAA’s mission. 

The Phase I awards will support feasibility and proof of concept work for initial development of innovative technologies in topic areas including citizen science and STEM education, uncrewed systems, artificial intelligence, genetic research (‘omics), and blue economy. Small businesses use Phase I support to establish the technical merit, feasibility, and commercial potential of their proposed technology. NOAA Phase I awards are funded at a maximum of $150,000 over 6 months. The list of FY21 awarded companies and their project titles include:

InferLink Corporation

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Radmantis LLC

Adopt existing technologies for improved seafood production and to better feed a growing world

Tridentis Advanced Marine Vehicles LLC

Enhanced Aquaculture Monitoring

Live Advantage Bait LLC

Rapid diagnostic testing for marine velvet disease, Amyloodinium ocellatum: a potential game changer for disease prevention and economic gain for fisheries and aquaculture

Areté Associates

Infrared Polarimetric Wave Imaging (I-PWI) for Passive Remote Sensing of Sea State

Swift Engineering Inc.

A Modular Water Quality Observation System to Accelerate the Blue Economy

Mimetics LLC

Yeast-Based Biosensors for Detecting Pathogenic Bacteria in Aquaculture Systems

Hummingbird Nano Inc.

Pressure based microfluidics to increase the speed, automation, and portability of ELISA for microcystin detection

Synthetik Applied Technologies LLC

DeepSpace-AI- A Deep-Learning Based Offshore Monitoring System Using Satellite Imagery

Cell Matrix Corporation

Participatory Sensor Networks for Marine Navigation

Elder Research Inc.

HABSSED: Harmful Algal Bloom Surveillance by Sequencing of Environmental DNA

Sunburst Sensors LLC

pHyter: An Oceanographic Tool for Citizen Science and STEM Education

International Association of Virtual Organizations (IAVO) Inc.

Setac: Enhancing Usability of Archived Weather Data in the Digital Age

Tampa Deep Sea Xplorers LLC

Tampa Deep Sea Xplorers Compact Low Cost AUV Platform for Next Generation Seafloor and Water Column 3D Imaging Sensors

Maritime Applied Physics Corporation

TALONS for Marine Mammal Detection

Toyon Research Corporation

Detecting and Classifying Marine Mammals in Infrared Video Using AI

Syntro Tek Corporation

Smartphone Water Quality Monitoring Platform for Increasing Public Engagement

StratoSolutions Inc.

Stratospheric HAPS for enhancing societal resilience to extreme weather

Nearview LLC

AI Model for Automated Detection and Mapping of Intertidal Vegetation

Phase II is an opportunity for high-performing small businesses to expand on successful Phase I results. FY21 Phase II SBIR awards will support further research and development for projects in topic areas including weather service improvement and evolution, next-generation NOAA platforms, next-generation observations and modeling systems, aquaculture, and recreational and commercial fisheries. NOAA Phase II awards are funded at a maximum of $500,000 over 2 years. The list of NOAA Phase II awardees and their projects titles include:

SafetySpect Inc.

Rapid detection of fish species and quality in the marketplace

Creare LLC

Low Cost Ocean Temperature Profile Sensing

Shellfish Solutions Inc.

Tide to Table Traceability and Marketing System

CFD Research Corporation

Weather Risk Information and Impacts for Schools Systems Kit

Charles River Analytics Inc.

Semi-autonomous Capabilities for the Operation of Uncrewed Teams (SCOUT)

CD3, General Benefit Corporation

SBIR Phase II: Continuous eDNA Monitoring for Early Detection of Aquaculture Diseases

Aerodyne Research Inc.

Automated Monitoring of VOCs with a Compact Gas Chromatography-Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer (GC -Vocus)

Cruyningen, Izak van dba LineSpect

Aircraft Detection 360 Camera and Microphone Array

Hydronalix Inc.

NOAA Aerielle SONAR UAS

Lynntech Inc.

Rapid, Simple Diagnostic for Pathogens in Marine Aquaculture

CVision AI Inc.

Automated Filet Identification

Azavea Inc.

Advancing Flood Extent Delineation Modeling Using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Data

Kraenion Labs LLC

Machine Learning for Risk Assessment using Satellite and Aerial Imagery

AAPlasma LLC

Non-Equilibrium Short-Pulsed Discharge for Removal of Antibiotics and Pathogens from Water used in Aquaculture Facilities

Innovim LLC

Next Generation Observation and Modeling Systems

DiveViz LLC

Developing a Visibility Predictive Model using Crowdsourced Data

Additional information about NOAA SBIR awards from FY21 and previous years, including abstracts of successful proposals and comments on anticipated results, can be found here.

The SBIR Program at NOAA is located within the Technology Partnerships Office (TPO). For more information on the SBIR Program and how to apply, visit the NOAA SBIR website. To stay connected with the NOAA SBIR program and to learn about upcoming events, workshops, and requests for proposals, follow us on Twitter @NOAAinnovate and join the NOAA SBIR mailing list by emailing NOAA.SBIR@noaa.gov with the subject “subscribe”. 

Note: Any reference obtained from this website to a specific company, product, process, or service does not constitute or imply an endorsement by NOAA.

Published on September 22, 2021

Media contact: suzi.webster@noaa.gov