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The Defense Department announced the 10 research\u00a0<\/strong>areas where it wants innovative small businesses to direct their efforts in\u00a02019.<\/p>\nThe agency\u2019s research office is also standing up an in-house startup accelerator to help companies usher their tech out of the lab and into the real\u00a0world.<\/p>\n
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency on Friday laid out the focus areas for its Small Business Innovation Research, or\u00a0SBIR<\/span>, and Small Business Technology Transfer, or\u00a0STTR<\/span>, programs. Over the next year,\u00a0DARPA<\/span>\u00a0will recruit companies to participate in cutting-edge national security research efforts like advancing \u201cthird wave<\/a>\u201d artificial intelligence, developing miniature satellites, building lethal lasers and upgrading the country\u2019s nuclear\u00a0arsenal.<\/p>\n \u201cSmall businesses are critical for developing technology to support national security,\u201d\u00a0DARPA<\/span>\u00a0officials wrote\u00a0in the solicitation<\/a>. \u201cThe pace of discovery in both science and technology is accelerating worldwide, resulting in new fields of study and the identification of scientific areas ripe for small business utilization through the\u00a0SBIR<\/span>and\u00a0STTR<\/span>\u00a0programs.\u201d<\/p>\n The programs are divided into two phases, with companies first exploring the viability of their idea before building a final product. Companies that can already prove their tech is feasible are eligible to jump directly into the second phase of the\u00a0program.<\/p>\n Teams are eligible for up to $251,250 in funding for phase one of the program, and $1.65 million in phase two, a\u00a0DARPA<\/span>spokesperson told\u00a0Nextgov. Last year, the agency allocated roughly $101 million for the\u00a0SBIR<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0STTR<\/span>\u00a0programs, they\u00a0said.<\/p>\n This year for the first time, selected companies will also have the chance to participate in a new Pentagon-sponsored startup incubator to bring their ideas to fruition\u00a0faster.<\/p>\n The\u00a0DARPA<\/span>\u00a0Accelerator program will connect the most promising teams with industry and government advisors, as well as the agency\u2019s \u201cextensive\u201d network of investors, who can help commercialize their product. Under the program, groups will also be eligible for up to $250,000 in extra funding for phase two of the program, according to the\u00a0solicitation.<\/p>\n SBIR<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0STTR<\/span>\u00a0proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis through Feb. 29,\u00a02020.<\/p>\n This year, companies can receive\u00a0SBIR<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0STTR<\/span>\u00a0funding for research projects in these 10\u00a0categories:<\/p>\n