startup

Funding your Washington DC startup /  by Admin

The SBIR program came into law in 1982, founded by Roland Tibbetts, whose goal was to fund innovation that supports American companies and give them the support to take ideas to a stage where other private investors can take over. It was last renewed as part of the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act and is currently authorized to September 2022.All federal agencies with a large R&D budget are required to set aside part of that budget (3.2%) exclusively for small businesses with 500 or fewer employees, that are majority-owned by Americans and permanent residents. Eleven agencies administer SBIRs – the Department of Defense (DoD) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) are by far the largest and account for nearly 70% of the approximate $2.5 billion of funding.

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Innovation with the GSA 18F Program /  by Admin

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What is 18F?

They are federal employees that partner with other federal agencies to build, buy, and share digital services. With help from 18F, agencies have moved paper processes online, increased data access, saved millions on cloud hosting, and implemented new acquisition techniques. They are a remote-first team with offices in DC, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, and have teammates working all over the country.

What the 18F Program Does

18F partners with civilian and military federal agencies to help them build or buy exceptional digital services. 18F works with partners that have federal funding, and, as a cost recoverable office, they are required to charge the customer agency for the work. 18F also offers procurement services to state and local governments with access to federal funds.

How the 18F program works

Path Analysis

Each engagement starts at the path analysis phase…Asking the right questions, solving the right problems. Each Path Analysis is customized to the needs of an agency, with the goal of moving you from identifying a problem to working on a solution. With a Path Analysis, we’ll develop an action-oriented analysis of routes to pursue, places to narrow the project’s scope, and the best ways to deliver value to your users. The initial phase is completed by a team of two to four people and lasts 8 -10 weeks. Cost to the agency is around 195K.

Experiment & Iterate

Once the 18F and Agency team has completed a Path Analysis, they experiment and iterate on a solution to your problem. An 18F team works shoulder-to-shoulder with the Agency team to explore the challenges your users face and develop solutions to those problems. Experiment & Iterate phases focus on building a working product, preparing a procurement package, and can include training your team to take over development. This model allows the agency to stay in control of their budget and remain flexible. Cost to the Agency for this phase can be 750K.

Further Reading and Information