SBIR News

DOC and NOAA emblems with text "SBIR NOFO FY2023"

NOAA issues FY23 call for Phase I SBIR proposals

Small businesses must submit a Letter of Intent by January 13, 2023 On December 2, 2022 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued its Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Phase I Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. NOAA Phase I SBIR awards provide up to $175,000, which funds a six month period of performance for conducting feasibility and proof of concept research. The tentative award start date for the FY23 competition is August 1, 2023.  NOAA encourages proposals from qualified small businesses for highly innovative technologies with strong commercial potential that fit within NOAA’s mission areas.  To be eligible to submit a Phase I application, small businesses must first submit a required Letter of Intent via this form by Friday, January 13, 2023 at 11:59 pm (ET). In response to submission of the Letter of Intent, the NOAA SBIR Program will provide feedback indicating if an application is likely to be nonresponsive to the NOFO. Instructions for submitting the Letter of Intent are available in the Notice of Funding Opportunity. Full applications must be submitted through Grants.gov by March 17, 2023 at 11:59 pm (ET). Topics for the NOAA FY 2023 SBIR Phase I solicitation include: 9.1  Extreme Events and Cascading Hazards 9.2  Coastal Resilience 9.3  The Changing Ocean 9.4  Water Availability, Quality, and Risk 9.5  Effects of Space Weather 9.6  Monitoring and Modeling for Climate Change Mitigation Additionally, NOAA gives high priority to proposals developing technologies that integrate any of the NOAA Science & Technology Focus Areas, which include Uncrewed Systems (UxS), Artificial Intelligence, Data and Cloud Computing, ‘Omics, and Citizen Science. NOAA FY23 SBIR Phase I Notice of Funding Opportunity informational webinar: An informational webinar to discuss the Notice of Funding Opportunity and application process for the NOAA FY23 SBIR solicitation will take place on Tuesday, December 13th at 1:00 pm (ET). The webinar will include an overview of the FY23 competition and an opportunity for attendees to ask questions. Questions can be submitted in advance to noaa.sbir@noaa.gov with the subject “NOAA FY23 SBIR NOFO Webinar”. The webinar will be recorded and posted on the NOAA SBIR website.  Register for the webinar by clicking HERE. Key dates: Thursday, December 2, 2022: Notice of Funding Opportunity released Tuesday, December 13, 2022: Informational Webinar Friday, January 13, 2023: Letter of Intent (required) due date Friday, February 10, 2023: Letter of Intent feedback provided Friday, March 17, 2023: Full application due date The NOAA SBIR Program aims to stimulate U.S. economic and business growth through the commercialization of innovative, mission-relevant technologies by investing in small businesses and providing education and support to entrepreneurs throughout the process of researching, developing, and commercializing technologies. For additional information, please visit our website, follow the NOAA Technology Partnerships Office on LinkedIn and Twitter @NOAAinnovate, or contact the NOAA SBIR Program at noaa.sbir@noaa.gov. Media contact: suzi.webster@noaa.gov

"Demo Day 2022" in capital letters with other event info, wave graphic, and NOAA logo

NOAA SBIR Technology Showcase will be held in October

NOAA Small Business Innovation Research awardees will present their innovative research & development projects The NOAA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program will host the NOAA SBIR Commercialization Assistance Workshop on October 26-27, 2022. This year’s event offers both in-person (Washington, DC) and virtual options for participation. Each year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awards approximately $10M to U.S. small businesses to develop innovative new technologies through the SBIR Program. The primary goal of the NOAA SBIR Program is to empower small businesses to develop and commercialize technologies that are related to NOAA’s mission. As part of the program, small businesses are encouraged to take part in NOAA’s 2-year Commercialization Assistance Program, which is run through the Larta Institute. The culmination of this program is the Commercialization Assistance Workshop, or “Demo Day,” when companies will showcase their technologies and hone their business pitches. This year’s NOAA SBIR Commercialization Assistance Workshop themes include:  Fisheries and Conservation Technology Ocean Technology (Observation, Visualization, Modeling) Weather/Environment Technology (Observation, Visualization, Modeling, Forecasting) Those who are interested in attending this year’s NOAA SBIR Commercialization Assistance Workshop can register here. General attendees will have the opportunity to learn about NOAA SBIR-funded technologies and network with members of the innovation ecosystem.  We Need Judges and Expert Advisors!  We are also seeking attendees who are interested in serving as Pitch Session Judges on October 26. Judges will provide feedback for all participating small businesses and help select two companies to advance to the in-depth Feedback Sessions on October 27. Finally, we are also seeking Expert Advisors to provide in-depth feedback to selected companies on October 27. If you are interested in serving as a Judge or Expert Advisor, please RSVP with this form.   Thank you for supporting the NOAA innovation community!

Cover page of SBIR Phase II award abstract document with NOAA and DOC logo

NOAA invests $5.9M in small businesses to advance innovative technologies

The NOAA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program awarded approximately $5.9 million in Phase II SBIR grants to 12 small businesses. This seed funding will support research and development of innovative technologies in the NOAA mission space. The winning proposals represent projects across multiple research topic areas.

Depiction of several drone technologies floating together above and below the ocean surface.

NOAA uses array of marine and air uncrewed tools to improve hurricane forecast models

Throughout the 2022 hurricane season, NOAA will work with numerous partners to gather coordinated air-sea and atmospheric measurements in a hurricane from uncrewed ocean and aerial drones. NOAA will use a suite of innovative technologies to sample the ocean and atmosphere near each other in real-time and collect high-resolution data from all parts of the hurricane environment. This data could help forecasters better understand the forces that drive hurricanes so they can warn communities earlier. Technologies involved in these unprecedented sampling efforts include Saildrones and Altius-600 drones. The Saildrones involved in this research mission were specially modified to support hurricane research and developed through a CRADA partnership between NOAA and Saildrone, Inc. The Altius-600 drone was created by a small business called Area I, supported by SBIR research and development funding from the Department of Defense. The drone technology was later procured and further developed through a NOAA SBIR Phase III award. Read the full story NOAA will use several autonomous instruments this hurricane season to collect ocean and atmospheric data during during hurricanes. Credit: NOAA PMEL