Recommendation

Congress should focus the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) programs on the highest-impact opportunities.

Details

SBIR’s impact could be much greater if some facets of the program were geared significantly more toward commercialization. Awardees currently are limited in using grant money to fund critical commercialization activities that would enable them to raise their profiles and accomplish certain key milestones so they can build prototypes of new products or services, acquire commercial customers, attract private capital, or accelerate market entry. These activities, collectively referred to as Technical and Business Assistance (or “TABA”), cover the gamut from intellectual-property development and prosecution to marketing and staff recruitment. To fill these gaps, SBIR awardees should be permitted to expend at least 5 percent of their SBIR funds on commercialization-oriented activities. For instance, the Research Advancing to Market Production for Innovators Act (RAMP) (S. 2127), originally co-sponsored by Sens. Chis Coons (D-DE) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), would allow program awardees to allocate up to $50,000 of their awards for commercialization-related activities, including services such as market validation, IP protection, market research, and business model development. The RAMP legislation also appropriately calls for each federal agency operating an SBIR or STTR program to submit an annual commercialization impact assessment report.

Keep reading:

▪ Stephen J. Ezell, “Testimony Before the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee on Reauthorizing SBA’s Innovation Programs” (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, May 2019), https://itif.org/publications/2019/05/15/testimony-senate-small-business-and-entrepreneurship-committee-reauthorizing.

▪ Robert Rozansky and Robert D. Atkinson, “To Grow Innovative Small Businesses, Reform America’s Seed Fund” (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, January 2020), https://itif.org/publications/2020/01/09/grow-innovative-small-businesses-reform-americas-seed-fund.