@pipeworx/sbir

Connect: https://gateway.pipeworx.io/sbir/mcp · Install: one-click buttons

Tools: 5

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program data. Federal R&D awards to small businesses across NIH, DoD, NSF, NASA, DOE, and other agencies. ~$5B/year flowing to small companies for early-stage research. Free, no auth.

Why this matters for AI agents

For researching small-business tech innovation, federal R&D priorities, or “who’s getting funded for X technology?” SBIR is the source. Different from USAspending (which has the same data plus all other federal awards) — SBIR is curated, smaller, easier to search for early-stage R&D specifically.

Common flows:

• Award search. “AI / cybersecurity / clean energy SBIR awards?” → keyword search.
• Company history. “What has X received in SBIR funding?” → company-level search.
• Agency portfolio. “What’s NASA funding under SBIR?” → agency filter.
• Phase tracking. Phase I (proof of concept, ~$250k), Phase II (development, ~$1M+), Phase III (commercialization).

Auth

None. SBIR.gov is fully public.

Award structure

A Phase II award means the Phase I succeeded enough that an agency wants to invest more. Phase III means the technology graduated to procurement or larger contracts.

Participating agencies

11 federal agencies have SBIR programs: DoD, HHS (NIH), NASA, NSF, DOE, USDA, EPA, DHS, DOT, ED, NIST.

DoD and NIH together account for ~70% of SBIR/STTR dollars. Each agency has different priorities (DoD: defense tech; NIH: biomedical; NASA: space tech; NSF: foundational research).

Common pitfalls

• STTR vs SBIR. Both are Small Business set-asides. STTR (Technology Transfer) requires a research-institution partner; SBIR doesn’t. Funding is similar.
• Topic codes vary by agency. DoD has detailed topic codes (specific defense problems); NIH uses broader project topics. Cross-agency comparison by “topic” is messy.
• Phase III isn’t an SBIR award. It’s commercialization-track funding from other sources. Don’t expect to find Phase III dollar figures in SBIR data.
• Award dates lag. Awards appear publicly after legal cure periods. Recent quarters may be incomplete.
• Sole proprietorship to acquisition pathways. Successful SBIR companies often get acquired before commercialization. The award history doesn’t always tell you what happened to the technology after Phase II — track the company separately via SEC EDGAR if it went public.
• Small business definition. SBIR-eligible companies are <500 employees AND meet other size standards. Some “small” companies get acquired after winning Phase I; eligibility is checked at the time of award.

Tools

• sbir_search_awards — Search SBIR/STTR awards by keyword, agency (e.g., “DOD”, “NASA”), year, company, or state. Returns company name, award amount, agency, topic, abstract, year, and phase.
• sbir_get_award — Get full details for a specific SBIR/STTR award by ID. Returns company, award amount, agency, abstract, phase, and metadata.
• sbir_search_solicitations — Find active SBIR/STTR funding opportunities by keyword or agency (e.g., “DOD”, “NSF”). Returns topic descriptions, sponsoring agency, and open/close dates.
• sbir_company_awards — Get complete SBIR/STTR award history for a company. Returns all awards with amounts, agencies, topics, and funding phases.
• sbir_agency_stats — Get SBIR/STTR award counts by agency. Specify agency (e.g., “DOD”, “NASA”, “NSF”) or omit to see all major agencies.