NSF launches $20M pilot to accelerate commercialization of promising deep technologies from small businesses

National Science Foundation today announced a $20 million investment to launch a two-year pilot supporting small businesses in commercializing their deep-technology ventures. The pilot aims to address a persistent gap separating federally.

The pilot aims to address a persistent gap separating federally funded deep technology research from commercial success. NSF invests in small businesses that bring the most innovative, cutting-edge technologies to the market," said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF Assistant Director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships.

Discovery reaches its greatest potential when it moves beyond the laboratory and improves lives, strengthens industries and creates opportunities. UCF's National Commercialization and Translation Institute (NCTI) builds on UCF's growing national leadership in helping promising technologies become products, companies and economic growth.

With Central Florida's extraordinary concentration of talent, industry, and innovation. The results of this pilot, ultimately a descriptive and evaluative research study unto itself that will generate rigorous evidence regarding commercialization of deep-tech ventures, will be used to establish and implement best practices in translating deep-tech into nationally.

The pilot was authorized under the NSF Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (NSF SBIR/STTR) Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program. NSF pioneered the federal SBIR/STTR model in the late 1970s, demonstrating an approach that Congress formally established government-wide in 1982 for federal agencies with significant extramural research and development budgets.

Today, NSF SBIR/STTR provides early-stage funding to technology startups and small businesses to de-risk promising technologies, develop prototypes, and translate research and development into products and services with commercial and societal impact.

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