Entering the federal marketplace can be daunting. Especially if you are a small business with little to no resources on how to cut through the bureaucratic red tape and successfully secure a spot on a contract vehicle. What many businesses don’t know is you can approach your path to market in different ways. The Department of Defense (DoD) has a few innovation programs that are designed to help companies with innovative solutions gain access to critical funding and become visible to government buyers. These programs allow for technology development acceleration, innovative research and development, and give small businesses the opportunity to share their cutting-edge solutions with less barriers to market.
The three programs we’ll be talking about in this blog are Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT), Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR), and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR).
Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) Program
The Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies (APFIT) Program was created by the DoD in 2022 to provide funding for innovative production-ready technologies. These technologies have completed their development stage and address critical capability gaps across the DoD. This program is particularly relevant right now because their annual submission cycle is now open.
Many companies out there have solutions that are ready to be used, but it can take several months or even over a year to secure a government contract and put the technology in front of a government buyer. APFIT seeks to solve this by “bridging the valley of death” between Research and Development and the technology production. APFIT provides early procurement funding of $10M-$50M to help small businesses accelerate their initial production and gain visibility with the Defense Industrial Base (DIB).
APFIT currently follows an annual procurement cycle and usually opens in late spring/early summer. The current cycle opened in May 2025.
Is APFIT Right for you?
If you have an innovative technology that just finished development, now is the time to think about finding a sponsor and applying. The criteria is listed below:
- Prime vendor and majority awardee on the recipient contract must be U.S. based and meet at least one of the following eligibility criteria:
- Small business (as defined in Section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632))
- Non-traditional defense contractor (as defined in Section 3014 of title 10, U.S.C.)
- A company that during the one-year period preceding the issuance of this solicitation, has not performed on contracts and subcontracts for the DoD under which the aggregate obligations of the DoD to such entity for such period exceeds $400,000,000
- Proposal is submitted through an approved organization
- Procurement items must be Government Owned, Government Operated or Government Owned, Contractor Operated
- Requested funding must be between $10M-$50M
- Funding request must be “stand alone”/one-time award and not dependent on follow-on APFIT funding
- Proposals must be appropriate for procurement funds not R&D
One thing to note here is that only U.S. government organizations such as Services, Combatant Commands, agencies, and National Guard entities can submit proposals on behalf of eligible companies. They will become your sponsor throughout the process. You cannot submit your application directly. Check out the APFIT site for a full list of eligible submitting organizations.
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program
The Small Business Innovation Research Program, or SBIR is a small business set-aside program created to encourage small businesses to engage in federal research and development. It’s a competitive three-phased process where government agencies solicit proposals from small businesses for R&D, production, and services to meet agency needs. The SBIR program is closely related to the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program, which we’ll go into more detail on below.
The SBIR is not DoD specific. It’s powered by the Small Business Administration (SBA), so there are plenty of non-defense opportunities here. For the purpose of this blog, we’ll focus on the DoD-specific SBIR and STTR programs, but the phases and eligibility largely remain the same across the program until it’s time to find opportunities and apply.
The DoD SBIR Program releases three pre-scheduled Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs) and Commercial Solution Opening (CSO) per year, but DoD components have the flexibility to release topics regularly throughout the fiscal year. You can check open BAAs on the DoD SBIR site. This allows for continuous engagement opportunities.
Once you find an opportunity that related to your offerings, you can apply through the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal (DSIP).
How does it work once you apply? The three phases of this program are outlined in the graphic below from SBA’s site:
In Phase 3, you have the opportunity to bring your product to the commercial market, or sell it in the federal marketplace.
SBIR Eligibility
The eligibility requirements for the SBIR program are not related to any of the other small business programs under the SBA. First, you must qualify as a small business (as defined in Section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632)). Additionally, you must:
- Be organized for profit, with a place of business located in the United States
- Be more than 50% owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States, or by other small business concerns that are each more than 50% owned and controlled by one or more individuals who are citizens or permanent resident aliens of the United States
- Have no more than 500 employees, including affiliates
The Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program
The Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program is very similar to the SBIR Program. STTR is a parallel program, but the main difference is small businesses must partner with colleges/universities, Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs), or qualified non-profit research institutions.
The goal behind the STTR program is to expand funding opportunities in the federal innovation research and development sector by requiring small businesses to collaborate with research institutions. Just like the SBIR program, it supports the research and development of technology through to the production phase, but it has an extra layer of development as small businesses can leverage the knowledge and facilities of research institutions.
Small businesses can find opportunities the same place as SBIR, through the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal (DSIP).
STTR Eligibility
The eligibility requirements are the same as the SBIR program, with the added caveat of partnering with a research institution. The requirements around this include:
- The small business must manage and control the STTR funding agreement and establish an intellectual property agreement detailing the allocation of intellectual property rights and rights to carry out follow-on research, development or commercialization activities.
- STTR requires that the small business perform at least 40% of the R&D and a single partnering research institution perform at least 30% of the R&D.
- The STTR program allows the Principal Investigator to be primarily employed by the small business OR the partnering research institution.
For more details, you can visit the SBA site for their SBIR/STTR Eligibility Guide.
Knowing Where to Succeed in the Federal Marketplace
Programs like APFIT, SBIR, and STTR are great opportunities for small businesses, but aren’t necessarily well known to companies who are just getting started in the world of government contracting. It’s important you know your options and how to get your foot in the door. If you are looking to sell to the government and need help navigating all the options, or you already have a contract but are looking to expand, one of our consultants would be happy to talk to you.
