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Funding
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Programs
Resources
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Start Your Journey

Our Overview

Take the First Step in Learning About MNSBIR and the SBIR/STTR Programs

If you’re new to federal R&D funding, a little preparation can make a big difference. We created an Overview of the SBIR/STTR Programs along with who we are to help you take the first step of your journey.

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Section 1: Applicant Information & Instructions

You may complete or view different parts of the form by selecting the title or number above. You may also utilize "Save and Continue Later" at the bottom of form.
For this section, please tell us about yourself and your background.

Name(Required)

First Last

Title(Required)

Email(Required)

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Phone Number(Required)

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Phone Type

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LinkedIn Profile

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Highest Degree Earned(Required)

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Issuing Institution

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Contact Demographic Status(Required)

Select all that apply

Veteran

Woman

BIPOC

Disabled

Rural

None of the above

Do not wish to answer

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Section 2: Company Profile

Legal Company Name(Required)

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dba

Company Physical Address(Required)

City State ZIP Code

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Which Minnesota county is the company located?(Required)

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Company Website

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Company LinkedIn Profile

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Company Description

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Does the business have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) system?(Required)

What is the firm's Unique Entity Identification (UEI)

This is a 12-digit number and letter combination obtained from SAM.gov.

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Is the company a startup from the University of Minnesota, the Mayo Clinic, or another institution?(Required)

Yes

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Which institution?

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Section 3: Operational & Funding Details

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Date of Incorporation(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

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Legal Structure(Required)

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NAISC Industry Sector(Required)

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Most Recent Full Business Year Revenue(Required)

Company's previous year revenue total, or enter $0 if a startup

Please enter a number greater than or equal to 0.

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Number of Full-Time Employees(Required)

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Number of Part-Time Employees(Required)

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Number of Independent Contractors/Consultants(Required)

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Is the firm raising capital from angels, private equity or venture capitalists?

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Approximately how much funding has been raised by the firm?

What is the product or service you are developing?(Required)

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Pitchdeck

Max. file size: 2 MB.

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MIT CFRL Level

Small Business Owner Eligibility Verification(Required)

A majority (more than 50%) of your firms’ equity (e.g., stock) must be directly owned and controlled by one of the following:
1) One or more individuals who are citizens or permanent resident aliens of the U.S.,
2) Other for-profit small business concerns (each of which is directly owned and controlled by individuals who are citizens or permanent resident aliens of the U.S.)

I confirm that the business meets the eligibility requirements set by the SBIR/STTR programs.

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Name of Owner(Required)

First Last

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Owner Title

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Owner Phone Number

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51% Owner(s) Demographic Status(Required)

The share of 51% or more may be met individually, or be combined across owners. Please check all that apply.

Veteran

Woman

BIPOC

None of the above

Do not wish to answer

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Section 5: Company Legislative Representation

Please use the address used above to verify this information. Find the district information in the "References"section.

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What is the business state senate legislative district?

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What is the business state representative legislative district?

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Which congressional district is the company located?

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Section 6: Catalyst Program History

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Has the business previously applied for SBIR/STTR funding?(Required)

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Has the business submitted a Catalyst Program application in the past?(Required)

No, the company is new to MNSBIR, Inc.

Yes, this is for a new project.

Yes, I am re-engaging with the program.

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Section 7: Business and Technical Assistance Needs

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Does the firm need scientific and technical proposal writing assistance?(Required)

Yes

Maybe

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Does the firm need help with federal solicitation and topic matching?(Required)

Yes

Maybe

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Does the firm need help with technical assistance?(Required)

(e.g., prototyping, lab partnerships, etc.)

Yes

Maybe

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Does the firm need help with business assistance?(Required)

(e.g., market research and analysis, audit/accounting, grant and contract management, etc.)

Yes

Maybe

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Does the firm need assistance with its financial management system?(Required)

Yes

Maybe

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Has the company used any of these resources?(Required)

Check all that apply

UMN/MIN-Corps Value Proposition Course

Great Lakes I-Corps

National Science Foundation I-Corps

Medical Alley Starts

Have not used these programs

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Section 8: Project Information

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Project Category(Required)

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Which Health and Biomedical Technology sub-category matches your project closest?

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Which Advanced Manufacturing sub-category matches your project closest?

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Which Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning sub-category matches your project closest?

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Which Cybersecurity and Information Assurance sub-category matches your project closest?

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Which Clean Energy and Sustainability sub-category matches your project closest?

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Which Climate and Environmental Sciences sub-category matches your project closest?

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Which Quantum Science and Engineering sub-category matches your project closest?

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Which Aerospace and Space Technologies sub-category matches your project closest?

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Which Defense and National Security Technologies sub-category matches your project closest?

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Which Transportation and Mobility sub-category matches your project closest?

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Which Agriculture and Food Systems sub-category matches your project closest?

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Which Education and Workforce Development Technologies sub-category matches your project closest?

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Which Federal Agency are you applying to?

Department of Health and Human Services (NIH, FDA, CDC, ACL, ARPA-H)

National Science Foundation

Department of Defense (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, DARPA, etc.)

Department of Energy

Department of Homeland Security

Department of Commerce

Department of Transportation

Environmental Protection Agency

Department of Agriculture

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Other

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Select the agencies that align with your proposed project. (Check all that apply)(Required)

Department of Health and Human Services (NIH, FDA, CDC, ACL, ARPA-H)

National Science Foundation

Department of Defense (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, DARPA, etc.)

Department of Energy

Department of Homeland Security

Department of Commerce (NOAA, NIST)

Department of Transportation

Environmental Protection Agency

Department of Agriculture

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

I don't know yet

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Which HHS Institute(s) or Center(s)?

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Which DoD component?

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Which DOC sub-agency?

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What is the title or a brief description of the proposed project

(200 character limit)

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Which phase aligns with your proposed project?(Required)

We will help you determine the most appropiate phase for your project in consultation with the NIH.

Phase I - Technical Feasability

Phase II - Prototype Development

Fast Track - Combined Phase I & Phase II

SBIR Direct to Phase II - Prototype Development

Phase IIB - Sequential Phase II

Commercialization Readiness Program

Unsure

Other

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Which program aligns with your proposed project?(Required)

Note: STTR requires a research institution collaboration.

SBIR

STTR

Either

Unsure

Other

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Does the proposed project involve an industry partner, academic institution(s), a federal laboratory, or another institution?(Required)

Yes

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What is the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the proposed project?(Required)

The federal SBIR/STTR programs seek novel ideas, concepts and projects with strong commercial potential. Funding supports early stage product research and development projects with significant technical risk. The federal government uses the technical readiness system to determine the maturity of the technology.

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Section 9: Project Narrative Questions

Please provide detailed responses. These answers may be used for federal agency conversations or to generate documents such as NSF Project Pitch, NIH Specific Aims, or DOE Letters of Intent.

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Describe the status of the intellectual property associated with your technology and your protection strategy.(Required)

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Describe the technological innovation.(Required)

Explain the core high-risk technical innovation to be researched and developed, including the research and development that will be required and how this technical innovation differs from and is significantly better than existing solutions. It may also be that the proposed innovation creates a new market. In this case, why will it be adopted? Describing features or benefits of the proposed technology is not sufficient.

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Describe the technical objectives and challenges.(Required)

Clearly explain the specific research and development required to prove that the foundational technology works and address the associated challenges explicitly with a high level description of how each will be managed. This section must convey how the proposed work is technically innovative and demonstrate that you have an understanding of the core research and development tasks necessary to prove out the technical innovation.

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Describe the market opportunity.(Required)

Describe the market opportunity and value of your technological innovation. Explain the specific problem it addresses, its potential applications, and who will benefit (your target customers). Demonstrate an understanding of the competitive landscape and why your innovation has the potential to compete successfully. Include any customer discovery efforts your firm has undertaken—such as interviews, surveys, or engagement with end users—and summarize the key insights gained from these activities.

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Describe the members of the company and the technical team.(Required)

Provide an overview of the company’s key personnel and technical team members, highlighting their roles, qualifications, and relevant experience as it relates to the proposed innovation and research and development approach. Explain why the current team is well-suited to execute the project successfully. Identify any critical gaps in expertise or capabilities and outline plans to address them, such as through hiring, partnerships, or consultants. Be sure to include legal, accounting, and other professional advisors who are considered part of your broader support team.

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Provide any relevant scientific and technical literature.(Required)

Conducting a scientific and technical literature review is an essential step in the research process. It involves systematically searching, evaluating, and synthesizing existing scholarly works, such as research papers, articles, books, and other relevant publications, to gain an understanding of the current state of knowledge on a particular topic. With this in mind, we ask applicants to include up to five peer reviewed publications. These publications can be derived from others or yourself. Conducting a literature review is important and necessary to communicate to reviewers and the agency that the applicant is aware of the state of the art in their scientific or technical field.

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Message

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Project Pathway

Cohort Intent to Apply and Proposal Only

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Is the proposed project a clinical trial?

We will help you determine if your project is a NIH clinical trial. Please note, a NIH clinical trial is different from a FDA clinical trial.

Yes

Unsure

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What is the regulatory pathway for the proposed product or service?

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Agency or Solicitation Deadline

MM slash DD slash YYYY

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What is the solicitation number, BAA, NOFO, or RFA?

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Topic Number or Research Area

Examples: NIH: Alzheimer's disease and AD-related dementias, DOD: A254-016: Innovative Operations for Treatment and Processing of Wastewater, DOT: 25-FH1: Open Standards-based 3D-Model Viewer for Highway Construction

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Date Proposal Submitted:

MM slash DD slash YYYY

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What was the budget request?

Include the full amount, including subawardees.

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Project Investigator or Project Director Details

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Do you know who will serve as the Principal Investigator/Project Director for the project?

Yes

Other

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Pi/PD First Name

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Pi/PD Last Name

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Pi/PD Title

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PI/PD Phone

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PI/PD Email

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Additional Project Details

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Additional Team Members and email address

Name

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Subawardees

List any subawardees, consultants or subcontractors that are involved in the project and the amount of the subaward.

Subawardee, etc.

Amount

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What was the project abstract?

(No propietary information.)

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What is the Public Health Relevance statement?

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Section 10: Final Steps

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How did you hear about us(Required)

University of Minnesota

Mayo Clinic

Word of mouth

Search engine

ChatGPT or similar

Outreach or event

MNTech

Federal Agency

SBIR.gov

APEX Accelerator

Other

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Would you recommend the Catalyst Program?

Yes

Maybe

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If you have recommendations to improve MNSBIR's support and coaching, please let us know.

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Please provide a testimonial for our website and social media posts.

Please do not use personal names in the testimonial. Please do call out specific help you received and how it was valuable.

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Consent

By requesting business management and technical assistance services from MNSBIR, Inc., I understand that all consultants, counselors, and personnel assigned to assist me will treat all information and data received in complete confidence. I acknowledge that this is a management and technical assistance service, and not legal, tax, or financial advice. In consideration of receiving this support, I hereby waive any and all claims against MNSBIR, Inc., its affiliates, consultants, counselors, and personnel arising from or related to this assistance. I agree to cooperate if selected to participate in surveys or evaluations designed to assess the effectiveness of these services. I further understand that any consultant working with me has agreed not to recommend goods or services from sources in which they have a financial interest, nor accept fees or commissions resulting from this relationship. By signing my full name below, I acknowledge that I have read, understood, and accepted the terms of this agreement.

I accept the agreement above.

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Your Signature(Required)

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Insert any number (Human Check)

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Please list any dietary restrictions.

I consent to receive email communications from MNSBIR, Inc.

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MNSBIR, Inc. is an IRS 501 (c) (3) organization funded in part through a Federal and State Technology Partnership Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, a grant from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, and cash contributions from the University of Minnesota, Technology Commercialization Office and the Venture Center, and Carlson School of Management, Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship.
MNSBIR, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization; Federal EIN: 32-0685806.

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