Are you eligible for federal SBIR/STTR funding?
Run a free guided check built on the SBA's eligibility rules and the 2026 reauthorization. In a couple of minutes you will know where you stand, and which gray areas are worth resolving before you spend a month on a proposal.
- ✓A plain-English read on every core requirement: type, ownership, size, U.S. work, and PI
- ✓The nuances most checklists miss: affiliates, VC and PE ownership, the new security screening, and the STTR difference
- ✓An FAQ that answers the questions founders actually ask
Your answers are never shared or sold. We use your details only to send your results and follow up if you ask.
- ✓ Size: 500 or fewer employees
- ✓ Ownership: more than 50% U.S. owned
- ✓ U.S. work and place of business
- ! Principal Investigator: worth a review
A clear determination, not another checklist
Answer a short set of questions that adapt to your situation, and the tool returns a determination with per-criterion notes. Where something is flagged, it explains the nuance, like the special rule for VC and PE backed firms, the new national-security screening, or how the Principal Investigator rule changes for STTR, so a No becomes a next step rather than a dead end.
Built to save you a wasted month
Eligibility is the first gate every SBIR/STTR applicant has to clear. This tool helps you clear it with confidence before you invest in a proposal.
Grounded in the real rules
Every question maps to an SBA requirement, with the official nuances built in, not a watered-down summary.
Quick and guided
A guided flow that adapts to your answers, ending in an instant determination. No account, no long form, no waiting.
Answers the gray areas
An FAQ covers affiliates, ownership and VC exceptions, the security screening, the STTR difference, and when you actually certify eligibility.
Eligibility is step one. We help with the rest.
From life sciences to defense and dual-use, space, and energy, we research federal, state, and local opportunities that fit your roadmap and your eligibility.
"Our partnership with Grant Engine has been an extraordinary success."
*Win rate reflects results with an SME call and following Grant Engine's process.
Check your eligibility in minutes
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