Hi Innovator!

SBIR Reauthorization has been signed! 

On April 13, 2026, the Small Business Innovation and Economic Recovery Act was signed into law officially reauthorizing the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Research programs through September 2031.  

Within minutes, 91 new topics were posted to the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal, DSIP. 

NASA will be releasing its FY2026 Phase I BAA soon; they have released their 2025 Phase II solicitation for companies who received FY25 Phase I contracts.

Other agencies will roll out updates and timelines for their FY2026 solicitations as soon as they can. Note, just because SBIR programs have been lapsed does not mean that all agencies are going to flood the portals with solicitations. We'll see a resuming of programs from every participating agency; just not all at once.

More importantly are key changes that are included with this reauthorization including:

• Cap on number of awards a company may submit

• Increased due diligence around foreign influence and cybersecurity

• Extension of Direct to Phase II authority for NASA and DOE

• Changes in use of TABA funds

• and Strategic Breakthroughs

Jim Greenwood and I will discuss these in much more detail via Zoom next Wednesday April 22 at noon Mountain Time.  Join us! Share and sign up below.

Webinar: SBIR Reauthorization

with Jim Greenwood

April 22, 2026 noon MT

Register HERE.

Big Sky SBIR Accelerator - DoD, NASA and other Contracting Agencies 

We are accepting applications for our next cohort now. Apply HERE.

Coming to Bozeman May 5:

Innovator's Bootcamp 2026

May 5, join us and our partners the Montana Bioscience Alliance and the Montana Photonics & Quantum Alliance for the Innovator's Bootcamp 2026 at EngineWorks for a full day of sessions on Legal, Funding & Founder Essentials for Startups. We are all pleased to host partners with Sheppard Mullin and SpringTide Ventures for this valuable workshop for Montana technology founders, investigators, and new ventures. Yes, there will be (non-alcohol) margaritas!

Check out the agenda, learn more about our fabulous featured speakers, and REGISTER today

Thanks to our sponsors, this event is free. Space is limited and registration is required so please sign up asap to reserve your spot (and, of course, please notify us if you must cancel).

Partner News & Events

Here are links to upcoming events from MTIP partners:

Montana APEX Accelerators Events  

Montana SBDC Training and Events 

Montana Manufacturing Extension Centers Training and Events

USPTO Events

Montana World Trade Investment Day May 12, 2026 in Butte

Montana Festival 2026 is June 11-12 in Bozeman

SBIR/STTR Agency websites and active/upcoming solicitations

Here we go folks. If an agency's mission aligns with your innovation, sign up to receive their email notifications to receive news about their plans, webinars, solicitations and more. At this writing, DoD/DoW and NASA are the only agencies with active SBIR/STTR solicitations (and NASA's is for FY25 Phase II). 

• Department of Defense -  Ninety one new Topics are in pre-release now. Twenty topics that were previously in an extended pre-release are now open for submissions.  
• Health & Human Services/National Institutes of Health - HHS/NIH 
  • Also visit ARPA-H and BARDA regarding their funding opportunities.  
• National Aeronautical and Space Administration Read more about NASA's plans to move to a Broad Agency Announcement model in FY26 here. FY2025 Phase II solicitation is now posted.
• National Science Foundation
• Department of Energy and ARPA-E  
• U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Department of Homeland Security
• Department of Commerce -  NIST
• Department of Commerce - NOAA
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Education
• Environmental Protection Agency

Let's get to work!

Cheers,

Ann Peterson

MTIP Program Director

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