Utah Innovation Center

The Utah Innovation Center serves as a catalyst for technology innovation in the State of Utah.

The Utah Innovation Center, housed within the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, provides a one-stop solution for Utah startups and emerging companies working in technology innovation.

The Center offers free consultations, training, and proposal assistance to help Utah companies succeed in winning non-dilutive funding dedicated to research and development through the $4B federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

Services

Innovation Center services are available statewide, giving Utah’s technology-oriented companies a distinct advantage in today’s competitive environment. Services include:

Direct Proposal Assistance — One-on-one proposal editing and review for SBIR/STTR applicants
Matching — Microgrants and nonrecourse loans for companies pursuing non-dilutive funding through the federal SBIR/STTR programs.
Agency-Specific Training — Training based on particular nuances and requirements of participating agencies, including finding topics, the application process, and best practices for awarded proposals
Federal Program Officers — Connections with program officials from SBIR/STTR federal agencies
Mentorship — Small technology companies receive mentorship with connections to business counseling, lab space, prototype creation, and other resources to build and grow their business
Funding Network — Small business connections to other types of funding to include angel and venture funding
Industry Associations — Industry sector associations and group collaboration that enhance the innovation ecosystem
University Technology Transfer — Collaborations with technology transfer offices at the public and private universities in the state

The Utah Innovation Center helps drive the state’s technology innovation ecosystem opportunities through the federal SBIR/STTR programs. This non-dilutive funding mechanism — both grants and contracts — is dedicated to the research and development of new technology.

Across the nation, startups and small businesses from diverse technology areas and markets compete for this federal funding to stimulate technology innovation and provide broad societal impact.

The Innovation Center helps Utah’s small technology businesses to successfully win R&D funding and commercialize life-changing technologies that benefit us here at home and around the world.

UTAH TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION FUNDING

Workshops

Interested in SBIR and STTR funding? Explore our workshops.

Register For A Workshop

SBIR 101 Workshop

This free, hour-long workshop is offered monthly by the Innovation Center to help Utah entrepreneurs and innovators learn about the non-dilutive federal funding of the SBIR/STTR programs.

Attendees learn how to apply for grants and contracts dedicated to the R&D of innovative technologies that small businesses may commercialize. They learn about the services offered by the Utah Innovation Center and how they can determine if the program is right for them.

Register for the SBIR 101 Workshop

A video recording of the workshop is also available, whether for those new to the SBIR/STTR programs or to review the material as a refresher.

Watch a recording of the SBIR/STTR 101 Workshop

Additional Workshops

The Utah Innovation Center also offers longer, in-depth workshops for entrepreneurs planning on applying for specific SBIR/STTR solicitations and regularly hosts federal program managers, providing coveted one-on-one meetings for Utah innovators with federal decision-makers.

Register for Events

Frequently Asked Questions

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants and contracts fund small businesses’ research and development (R&D) projects. Together, they provide $4 billion annually to help small businesses minimize risk so innovative technology can move closer to commercialization.

Currently, 11 federal agencies participate in SBIR and five of those also participate in STTR, both of which are congressionally-mandated programs. These non-equity position dollars pay for a company’s research and development efforts. There is no loss of technology ownership, no loss of intellectual property and no payback of funds.

This non-dilutive funding is offered in competitive phases:

Phase I typically offers $150,000 to $250,000 for a six-month project to prove the feasibility and technical merit of your idea or technology.
Phase II typically offers $1 to $1.5 million for a 24-month project and is meant to expand the Phase I results and evaluate commercial potential.
Phase III takes place as the technology moves from the laboratory to the marketplace. While SBIR-STTR funds do not support this phase, some agencies offer sole-source contracts or follow-on non-SBIR funded research and development to help the small business commercialize a product.

Agencies are mandated by Congress to participate in the SBIR program when their extramural research budget is greater than $100 million and in the STTR program when it is over $1 billion. Currently, 11 agencies participate in the SBIR program and of those, five also participate in the STTR program (indicated in bold below).

You can search for open topics at Open Topic Search. For links and guidance on SBIR /STTR funding, you can go to SBIR.gov or any of the individual agencies participating in the programs:

Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Department of Commerce
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Department of Defense (DoD)
Department of Education (DoED)
Department of Energy (DOE)
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Department of Transportation (DOT)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
National Science Foundation (NSF)