The U.S. National Science Foundation today announced a $20 million investment to launch a two-year pilot supporting small businesses in commercializing their deep-technology ventures. The pilot aims to address a persistent gap separating federally funded deep technology research from commercial success. The investment ensures that the U.S. remains at the forefront of global innovation.

“NSF invests in small businesses that bring the most innovative, cutting-edge technologies to the market,” said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF Assistant Director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. “By helping these companies go further in bridging the so-called ‘valley of death,’ we can build on NSF’s R&D investments and help more breakthrough innovations reach the market, strengthening U.S. competitiveness and economic growth.”

“We are grateful to NSF for its continued confidence in UCF and for the opportunity to help shape the future of research translation and commercialization,” said University of Central Florida (UCF) President Alexander N. Cartwright. “Discovery reaches its greatest potential when it moves beyond the laboratory and improves lives, strengthens industries and creates opportunities. UCF’s National Commercialization and Translation Institute (NCTI) builds on UCF’s growing national leadership in helping promising technologies become products, companies and economic growth. With Central Florida’s extraordinary concentration of talent, industry, and innovation, UCF is well positioned to build a model that can deliver impact for Florida and across the nation.”

Led by UCF’s NCTI, the pilot will provide and test the administration of commercialization funding, expert mentorship, and investor connections, while also evaluating which factors, conditions, and approaches most effectively help deep technology companies reach the marketplace.

The results of this pilot — ultimately a descriptive and evaluative research study unto itself that will generate rigorous evidence regarding commercialization of deep-tech ventures — will be used to establish and implement best practices in translating deep-tech into nationally impactful technologies.

The pilot was authorized under the NSF Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (NSF SBIR/STTR) Commercialization Readiness Pilot Program.

NSF pioneered the federal SBIR/STTR model in the late 1970s, demonstrating an approach that Congress formally established government-wide in 1982 for federal agencies with significant extramural research and development budgets. Today, NSF SBIR/STTR provides early-stage funding to technology startups and small businesses to de-risk promising technologies, develop prototypes, and translate research and development into products and services with commercial and societal impact. In recent years, $1.6 billion in NSF SBIR/STTR investments over a five-year period helped support startups in attracting more than $36 billion in subsequent funding — demonstrating the program’s ability to leverage federal R&D investments and accelerate technologies toward the marketplace.

To learn more about SBIR/STTR, visit the program page.