GE Extend NC: Launch Chapel Hill | Oct 6, 2026 Webinar

Federal non-dilutive funding has changed more in the past year than in the prior decade. SBIR/STTR is reauthorized through September 2031, annual proposal caps arrive in FY2027, and every applicant now faces a national security risk assessment. NIH is catching up on a delayed FY26 cycle, with roughly half of its $1.5B SBIR/STTR budget still to obligate in September. Meanwhile, submission volume is up more than 40% in two years and average win rates have fallen by nearly half. Funding Update & Outlook. Status, budgets, deadlines, and best fit across Life Sciences & Health (NIH SBIR/STTR, ARPA-H, BARDA) and Defense & Dual-Use (DoD SBIR/STTR, DARPA, DIU), plus the reauthorization provisions that matter most, including Strategic Breakthrough Awards of up to $30M, proposal caps, expanded Direct-to-Phase II, and the new foreign risk and security requirements. Write to Win + AI in Use. What separates funded applications from the rest. Grant Engine's analysis of NIH SBIR proposals shows the Approach section is the strongest predictor of funding, and DoD ranks technical approach above every other criterion. We draw a clear line on AI: where it accelerates the work, where only people can do it, and why paid AI tools are not always private for unpublished data and IP. Long-Term Funding Strategies. Moving from the next award to the next several years: diversifying across federal, state, non-profit, and global sources, and the plays leading companies use to build durable funding.