For SBIR/STTR Programs, federal agencies explicitly want to see the complete vision from research through commercialization. Phase 1 proposals should articulate how the work connects to Phase 2 development, and eventual market deployment.

Customer discovery before R&D work is a crucial step in validating your problem-solution fit early. You want to confirm that the problem you think exists actually matters to customers, that they're willing to pay to solve it, and that your proposed solution addresses their real pain points. This upfront investment in understanding customers typically saves far more money and time than it costs.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs are designed to move early-stage and impactful technologies closer to commercialization, but what does “commercialization” mean? 

Got federal SBIR or STTR funding? West Virginia wants to double down on your innovation through matching funds. The West Virginia Entrepreneurship and Innovation Investment Fund (EII) offers grants to businesses that have received federal SBIR/STTR awards, aiming to maximize the impact of federal research funding awards.

The Resilient Energy Technology and Infrastructure Consortium (RETI), an initiative focused on commercializing high-impact innovations in West Virginia and western Pennsylvania, was chosen as one of only 29 semifinalists in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Regional Innovation Engines initiative, from a pool of over 300 proposals nationwide. RETI is a collaboration of dozens of innovation ecosystem partners, and is led by West Virginia University (WVU), the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and the U.S. Research Impact Alliance (USRIA).