TECH COMMUNITY: SMALL BIZ GRANTS ARE SMALL POTATOES

摘要

One tool government agencies have to nurture innovation is the Small Business Innovation Research grant. But is it a bold enough tool for the Pentagon? Participants at a Defense News-hosted roundtable in November said no. The investment research program, which is run by the Small Business Administration, requires federal agencies set aside a certain percentage of their R&D funding for outside research for small firms. SBIR offers three tiers of R&D funding for new technologies: $150,000 or less at Phase I, which lasts around six months; up to $1 million at Phase II, for around two years; and Phase Ⅲ , which funds testing of the commer-ciality of the technology and solicits funding from the private sector. To Trae Stephens, a partner at the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Founders Fund and chairman of tech company Anduril Industries, the Pentagon would be better off making a few big bets instead of many smaller investments. He likened it to his experience at a venture capital firm.