How to build an NSF SBIR Phase I budget reviewers believe
Direct costs, fringe, indirect rates, subawards and consultants. What a credible Phase I budget looks like and the line items that trigger questions.
Read more$240M+ won for deep tech & life sciences
Let's get you funded
We help US innovators take disruptive technologies from idea to market with non-dilutive federal grant funding. Led by a team that has won SBIR competitions and raised the equivalent of $240M+ for deep tech and life sciences companies.
Not ready to talk? Check your eligibility: know in 30 seconds whether SBIR is worth your time. Five questions, no email required.
- $240M+
- Won by our teamGrant funding secured for deep tech and life sciences companies.
NSF · NIH · DoD · DOE · NASA“The GrantUp team are excellent. They are proactive in suggesting grants to go for and honest if they don’t think an application is right for us. That has saved us time and money.”
David Norris
Founder & CEO, AIX Live
$4B+
Awarded through SBIR/STTR each year
11
Federal agencies running SBIR programs
36+
Technical fields our specialists cover
$150K
Typical Phase I award, up to $2M at Phase II
SBIR/STTR figures reflect the federal program overall. The $240M+ is the cumulative funding won by the GrantUp group team across US, UK and international programs, converted to USD at £1 = $1.27.
The lowest cost of capital available to you
A federal grant is the only funding that pays for your R&D without taking a share of the company. Used well, it changes what your next equity round looks like.
Fund the R&D itself
Federal awards run from $150K Phase I to $2M+ Phase II. Money that pays for the science rather than the pitch deck.
Keep 100% of your equity
Non-dilutive means non-dilutive. No board seats, no liquidation preference, no repayment. You own what you build.
Validate your technology
A peer-reviewed federal award is third-party proof that scientists you don't employ believe the technology works.
Raise at a higher valuation
Reach your next technical milestone on grant money and negotiate your priced round from a stronger position.
Experts, not software
Written by PhDs, never generated by a tool.
A growing number of “grant platforms” hand you a template and an AI draft. Federal reviewers are working scientists and they can tell. Every GrantUp application is researched, argued and written by subject-matter experts who have won these awards themselves, then torn apart in internal review before it goes anywhere near a portal.
How we workWhat you get that a platform cannot give you
- • An honest “don't apply for this one” when the fit is wrong
- • A writer who understands your assay, your stack or your device physics
- • Reviewer-perspective critique before submission, not after rejection
- • A debrief-driven resubmission plan if the first attempt misses
Our team has delivered
$240M+
Grant funding won by our team
100's
Grant applications won
>25x
Average ROI for our clients
Figures reflect the cumulative track record of the GrantUp group team, converted to USD.
Where that track record comes from, plainly
GrantUp Inc. is the US arm of a group that has been winning competitive, peer-reviewed innovation and SBIR-style grants for years. Most of the published awards on this site were won on UK and international programs, in GBP, and we convert them at £1 = $1.27 rather than quoting a bigger number.
The same consultants who wrote those proposals now write NSF, NIH, DoD and DOE applications for US founders. The science, the reviewer psychology and the scoring criteria transfer directly. We would rather say that clearly than imply a US award history we have not published yet. Ask us about live US work on the call.
We help you successfully apply for federal funding
Federal grants are the lowest cost capital a US startup can raise, no equity, no repayment, but NSF, NIH, DOE and DoD solicitations are unforgiving, and most first-time applicants are screened out on avoidable issues.
Our academically-led team of grant writers has won SBIR competitions themselves. We apply that reviewer's-eye perspective to every application we write, so your innovation gets the funding it deserves.
See how we deliver winning resultsPartner with us to unlock federal funding for your business
Grant Writing Consultancy
Hand your SBIR/STTR or federal application to our writers. We build the full narrative, innovation, technical plan, commercialization, and write it for you.
Learn moreFederal Funding Partnership
An ongoing partnership where we plan, manage and deliver your multi-year federal funding strategy across NSF, NIH, DOE, DoD and ARPA agencies.
Learn moreReporting & Compliance
Award management, technical reporting and drawdown support so your team can stay focused on R&D while staying fully compliant.
Learn moreDeep life sciences expertise
Built for biotech, medtech and digital health founders
Our writers hold PhDs and postdoctoral experience in the life sciences. We translate preclinical data, regulatory pathways and reimbursement strategy into the language NSF and NIH reviewers reward, and we support the full journey from Phase I to Phase II.
- • NIH SBIR/STTR and NSF SBIR biotech topics
- • Therapeutics, diagnostics, devices and lab tools
- • Regulatory, clinical and commercialization narratives
How we win grants
1
Eligibility & strategy call
A free consultation to pressure-test your project against agency criteria and map the right program, topic and deadline.
2
Technical deep dive
Our PhD-level writers interview your team, then shape the innovation, risk and research plan the way reviewers score it.
3
We write the application
Full drafting of the Project Pitch, Project Description, commercialization plan, budget justification and supporting documents.
4
Review, submit, resubmit
Multiple internal review rounds against the solicitation, submission support, and a debrief-driven resubmission plan if needed.
We write for the agencies that fund American innovation
SBIR and STTR run across eleven federal agencies. We start from your technology and match it to the program most likely to fund it, not the one we happen to know best.
National Science Foundation
SBIR/STTR: America's Seed Fund
National Institutes of Health
SBIR/STTR across 24 institutes
Department of Defense
AFWERX, DARPA, Navy and Army SBIR
Department of Energy
Clean energy and advanced materials
NASA
Space technology SBIR/STTR
US Dept. of Agriculture
AgTech and rural innovation
NIST
Measurement science and standards
Homeland Security
Security and resilience technology
Agency names and logos are referenced for identification only and do not constitute endorsement of GrantUp Inc. by any federal agency.
We don't limit your technology area
NSF funds nearly everything from biotechnology to wireless communications to quantum and semiconductors. If it's a genuine technical innovation with commercial potential, we can help you fund it.
Health & Life Sciences
- Therapeutics & drug discovery
- Diagnostics
- Medical devices
- Molecular & cell biology
- Immunology
- Neuroscience
- Digital health
- Clinical research tools
- Bioinformatics
- Synthetic biology
- Lab automation
- Biomanufacturing
Deep Tech & Hardware
- Semiconductors
- Quantum technologies
- Photonics
- Advanced materials
- Wireless & 5G/6G
- Robotics
- Sensors & IoT
- Space & aerospace
- Additive manufacturing
- Microfluidics
- Power electronics
- Metrology
Software, Energy & Environment
- Artificial intelligence & ML
- Cybersecurity
- Data infrastructure
- Climate technology
- Clean energy & storage
- Grid technology
- Carbon capture
- Water technology
- Agriculture technology
- Circular economy
- Learning science
- Transportation & mobility
Biotech grantsMedtech & Diagnostics grantsArtificial Intelligence grantsQuantum Technologies grantsSemiconductors & Microelectronics grantsWireless & Communications grantsAerospace & Space grantsCleantech & Energy grantsCybersecurity grantsRobotics & Autonomy grantsAgTech & Food Systems grantsPhotonics & Advanced Materials grants
What our clients say
GrantUp provided clear guidance, support and review of our application and we wouldn't hesitate in recommending them.
The GrantUp team are excellent. They are proactive in suggesting grants to go for and honest if they don't think an application is right for us. That has saved us time and money.
GrantUp offered excellent advice, leading to us winning a grant with a score of 98%.
Latest insights
Practical guidance on NSF SBIR, NIH SBIR and the wider federal funding landscape.
Is your project innovative enough for NSF SBIR?
NSF declines most Project Pitches on intellectual merit, not writing quality. Here is how NSF defines innovation and technical risk, and how to test your project against it.
Read moreThe NIH SBIR Specific Aims page: one page that decides the review
The Specific Aims page shapes how every reviewer reads the rest of your NIH SBIR application. A paragraph-by-paragraph structure that works.
Read moreReady to get started?
Talk to us about your federal funding plans and we'll help you make it happen through effective, results-driven grant writing.