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Accessing Non-Dilutive Funding: SBIR/STTR Grant Funding for Climate Founders
By Evan Taylor · Download deck (PDF)
A primer on the SBIR/STTR process for climate-tech focused founders. This deck has been given in talks and workshops across the startup ecosystem to help founders or would-be founders understand the complexities of the SBIR/STTR process — from finding the right program to structuring a proposal that has a real shot.
Author background. Evan Taylor has been a Co-Investigator on over $30M of non-dilutive funding awarded across EERE, BETO, ARPA-E, and SBIR programs at DOE, DOT, and USDA over the last 8 years — including $11M+ in SBIRs, $18M+ in TRL 6–8+ R&D awards, and $3.3M in ARPA-E across 11+ awarded SBIR proposals from three teams and technologies, with a 75%+ DOE success rate as co-investigator and commercialization lead.
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What the deck covers
- Why SBIR/STTR matters for climate-tech founders — non-dilutive capital, investor signal, and de-risking technology development.
- Phase I, Phase II, and Phase IIB structure: scope, budgets, and timelines.
- How to find the right Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) — see also the SBIR Agency Links & Resources directory.
- What proposal reviewers actually look for, and the most common reasons climate proposals get rejected.
- Working with national labs and university partners as subawardees.
Related resources
- SBIR Agency Links & Resources — where to find open FOAs across DOE, DOD, NSF, NIH, NASA, EPA, USDA, NOAA, and DOT.
- Setting Up to Submit Federal Grants — SAM.gov UEI/CAGE, Login.gov, ORCID, SciENcv, Grants.gov AOR, and DOE PAMS setup.
- Real-World Awarded SBIR Docs & Templates — redacted Phase I and Phase IIB DOE proposals to model your own structure.