Stacy L ChinFounder, KeepYourEquity · I get the government to write you checks

Unlocking the Power of NIH SBIR Phase I Grants: Is Your Business Ready?

1 May 2023 · 1 min

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In this segment, Stacy Chin explains what an NIH Phase I SBIR application entails. She describes the program’s purpose—to help early‑stage startups establish scientific and technical merit and assess the feasibility of their innovation for commercialization. The Phase I grant is suited for brand‑new companies with groundbreaking ideas that have not yet generated research or development data. While preliminary data are not required, including early findings can strengthen the proposal. The ultimate goal of a Phase I project is to produce a prototype or minimum viable product (MVP) and benchmark it against leading competitors to demonstrate a compelling value proposition.

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What is an NIH Phase I application? The purpose of these programs is to help startups establish the scientific merit, technical merit, feasibility of the proposed research. Here, your goal is to validate whether or not your innovation has potential for commercialization. If you are a brand new startup with a groundbreaking idea, but you haven't done any research or development efforts to prove that your idea works, then a Phase I application is a good fit for you. Phase I applications don't require you to include any preliminary data, although present some early findings would greatly strengthen your application since this helps to justify the need for Phase I funding support. At the end of Phase I, your goal is to develop some sort of prototype or MVP, or minimum viable product, and to test it against a leading competitor so that you can demonstrate its value proposition and that your solution might have a leg up compared to other state-of-the-art offerings.