Capitalizing on Non-Dilutive Funding | GE Extend North Carolina at First Flight Venture Center

Federal non-dilutive funding has changed more in the past year than in the prior decade. Submissions are up more than 40 percent, win rates have fallen by nearly half, and every applicant now faces a national security risk assessment. Recorded Wednesday, October 7, 2026 at First Flight Venture Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Sam Tetlow, Founder and CEO of Grant Engine, covers where federal non-dilutive funding stands today, what separates funded applications from the rest, where AI helps and where it puts your IP at risk, and how to build a funding strategy that lasts. What this session covers Where the money is right now: status, budgets, deadlines, and best fit for NIH SBIR/STTR, ARPA-H, BARDA, DoD SBIR/STTR, DARPA, and DIU What just changed: reauthorization through September 2031, annual proposal caps in FY2027, Strategic Breakthrough Awards of up to $30M, expanded Direct-to-Phase II, and the new foreign risk and security review Why applications win or lose, and why the Approach section decides more outcomes than anything else How to win more often: a self-evident story, logical flow, clarity, shoring up the weakest criteria, and independent external review The AI boundary: where AI speeds up the work, and where the grant thesis, differentiation, and Specific Aims stay human How to protect unpublished data and IP, since consumer AI terms may permit reuse of your content A long-term strategy that compounds each win into the next Free tools from Grant Engine: SBIR Eligibility Review Tool: https://info.grantengine.com/cover-pa... SBIR Planning Calendar: https://info.grantengine.com/cover-pa... NIH SBIR Readiness Tool: https://info.grantengine.com/cover-pa... Foreign Risk Assessment: https://sbir.streamlinedocs.com/hub About Grant Engine Grant Engine has secured over $1B in non-dilutive funding for life sciences, defense, and dual-use companies through NIH, DoD, DARPA, BARDA, and ARPA-H, at win rates 2x to 4x the national average. Talk to our team: https://grantengine.com/get-funding/ Questions: funding@grantengine.com