FAST Awards Will Expand Access to America’s Seed Fund and Help Small Businesses Turn Ideas into Commercial Capability
Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced that it awarded more than $8 million in grants to 50 organizations through the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program. The FAST Program provides small businesses and startups with specialized training, mentoring, and technical assistance to compete for research and development funding through America’s Seed Fund. Grant recipients are eligible for awards of up to $180,000 each.
“America’s economic and national security depends on our ability to continue to out-innovate, out-build, and out-compete every nation in the world,” said SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler. “The Trump SBA is expanding America’s small businesses’ seat at the table in building the technologies and supply chains that are strengthening our industrial and economic future. These FAST awards will help innovators across the country turn breakthrough ideas into American jobs, stronger communities, and the next generation of commercial and national-security leadership.”
America’s Seed Fund, which includes the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, is the nation’s largest source of early-stage, non-dilutive funding for technology startups. These programs help American innovators take bold ideas from research and development to commercialization, strengthening U.S. leadership in critical technologies and supporting breakthroughs in defense, energy, agriculture, health sciences, biotechnology, space, and other strategic industries.
The FAST Program strengthens the entrepreneurial support system that connects innovators to SBIR and STTR opportunities. FAST awardee organizations work locally to provide person-to-person guidance, training, mentorship, and technical assistance that can help small businesses identify relevant opportunities, develop competitive applications, and navigate the path from research to commercialization.
This year, the FAST Program expanded its geographic footprint and increased engagement with innovators nationwide. FAST awardee organizations will provide support across 49 states and Puerto Rico, ensuring that entrepreneurs outside traditional technology hubs have greater access to the country’s largest source of early-stage research and development funding. The SBA is pleased to announce that 43 FAST awardees from the 2026 cohort were selected for an additional year of funding. Seven new entities have also been added to the program.
The awards follow President Trump’s reauthorization of the SBIR and STTR programs for five years through September 30, 2031. The legislation strengthens national security, reinforces program integrity and accountability, protects sensitive intellectual property from foreign adversaries, expands access for new innovative businesses, and focuses the programs on delivering measurable results for taxpayers.
The FAST Program provides awards for a base period of 12 months, beginning on September 30. These grants ensure that America’s innovative small businesses, wherever they are located, have the tools and trusted local support to compete for federal R&D funding, commercialize breakthrough technologies, create jobs, and build the industrial base of the future.
The 2027 cohort of FAST grantees is as follows:
| STATE | ORGANIZATION |
| Alabama | The Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship |
| Alaska | University of Alaska Fairbanks |
| Arkansas | University of Arkansas at Little Rock |
| Arizona | Arizona Commerce Authority |
| California | Cal Poly Humboldt Sponsored Programs Foundation |
| Colorado | Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade |
| Connecticut | Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development |
| Delaware | University of Delaware |
| Florida | University of Central Florida Research Foundation, Inc. |
| Georgia | University of Georgia Research Foundation |
| Hawaii | Hawaii Technology Development Corporation |
| Idaho | Idaho State University |
| Illinois | Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois |
| Indiana | Indiana Economic Development Corporation |
| Iowa | Iowa State University of Science and Technology |
| Kansas | Wichita State University |
| Kentucky | Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation |
| Louisiana | Louisiana Economic Development |
| Maine | Central Maine Growth Council |
| Maryland | Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) |
| Massachusetts | University of Massachusetts Amherst |
| Michigan | BBC Entrepreneurial Training & Consulting |
| Minnesota | MNSBIR, Inc. |
| Missouri | The Curators of the University of Missouri |
| Mississippi | Innovate Mississippi |
| Montana | Montana State University |
| Nebraska | Board of Regents, University of Nebraska at Omaha |
| Nevada | Board of Regents, University of Nevada, Las Vegas |
| New Hampshire | University of New Hampshire |
| New Jersey | Rutgers, The State University |
| New Mexico | Regents of New Mexico State University |
| New York | Research Foundation of CUNY |
| North Carolina | First Flight Venture Center, Inc. |
| North Dakota | University of North Dakota |
| Ohio | Ohio Aerospace Institute |
| Oklahoma | Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma |
| Oregon | Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum |
| Pennsylvania | Ben Franklin Technology Partners Corporation |
| Puerto Rico | Puerto Rico Science, Technology & Research Trust |
| Rhode Island | Rhode Island Commerce Corporation |
| South Carolina | South Carolina Research Authority |
| South Dakota | South Dakota Biotechnology Council |
| Tennessee | Tennessee Technology Development Corporation LaunchTN |
| Texas | The University of Texas at San Antonio |
| Utah | Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity |
| Virginia | Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation |
| Washington | Central Washington University |
| Wisconsin | Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System |
| West Virginia | US Research Impact Alliance Corp |
| Wyoming | University of Wyoming |