SBIR/STTR Phase I Writing Workshops

Attention entrepreneurs and innovators:

Learn to write a winning proposal by participating in the SBIR/STTR Phase I Proposal Writing Workshop!

The Venture Catalyst SBIR/STTR Phase I Workshop is an exclusive eight-hour session targeting early-stage, first-time or unsuccessful writers of SBIR/STTR Phase I proposals. It offers participants a structured SBIR/STTR grant-writing methodology demonstrated to be highly successful.

The SBIR and STTR programs can be essential in supporting business and product strategies with funding from the federal government, as an alternative to or in coordination with other forms of business financing.

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) are federally-funded programs that support small business’ technology product development. These workshops will leverage on-going efforts of the Arizona Department of Commerce, the Arizona Technology Council and Maricopa Community Colleges to promote these programs in Arizona. 

Program

• The workshop promotes the importance of partnering entrepreneurs with commercialization even at the early stages of the program.
• Participants are provided exclusive access to step-by-step assistance in researching government organizations, topics, financial and administrative requirements, and Phase I proposal writing.
• Tips for apporaching and structuring alliances with large corporations on government contracts are offered.
• Participants are encouraged to perform an initial subject search prior to class, and to bring topics of interest to class.
• Access to proposal outlines from various agencies will be used and each major proposal section will be discussed, with methods and techniques for covering each section.
• Two major areas keys to winning a proposal will be covered at the workshop: 1) Research/Work Plan (and how one integrates knowledge of the state of the art with the work plan) and 2) Commercialization Discussion (assuming that the principal investigator is strong).

Seating is limited to 25 participants Visa, Mastercard and Discover accepted. 

 Register Now: SBIR/STTR Phase I Writing Workshop

 About SBIR/STTR Grants

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program provide funding for early-stage technology ventures that are still too high-risk to attract funding from private investors.  Both programs are coordinated by the U.S. Small Business Administration and offer applicants a three-phase development cycle:

• Phase I– Awards of up to $100,000 for approximately six months support exploration of the technical merit or feasibility of an idea or technology.

• Phase II– Awards of up to $750,000, for as many as two years. During this time, R&D work is performed and the developer evaluates commercialization potential.  Only Phase I award winners can apply.

• Phase III– Period during which Phase II innovation moves from the laboratory into the marketplace. No SBIR funds support this phase. The small business must find private or non-SBIR federal agency funding.

How Venture Catalyst Helps Small Businesses with SBIR / STTR

Other universities provide SBIR training, but Venture Catalyst adds to this by also providing research, writing and submission support, along with making critical connections to large corporate partners:

• Education –Phase I writing workshops are open to faculty, students and local companies.  Since 2003, ASU’s entrepreneurial assistance units have provided training to almost 300 Phase I entrepreneurs (62 to date in FY 2010 with a result of $1 million in SBIR grants awarded) and 60 Phase II. 

• Proposal assistance– For a select subset of this group, ASU has helped provide research, writing and editing assistance.

• Corporate Connections – Venture Catalyst actively connects proposal writers to industry primes such as Raytheon, Honeywell, General Dynamics, Boeing and others.  The primes provide commercialization guidance and critical letters of support for the proposals.  In FY 2010, we have made 10 connections for 12 proposals. 

• Faculty connections – Venture Catalyst connects faculty members with companies wishing to submit proposals and vice versa.  20 connections have been made in FY2010 thus far.

• Collaboration – ASU collaborates with the Arizona Small Business Development Center (AzSBDC) on the Clean Technology Grant they received.  This allows us to help sustainable companies by providing workshops, writing support and business development.