News Updates

SBIR opened to VC-backed firms again

Companies that are majority-owned by venture capital firms will once again have a shot at receiving Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) awards.

House and Senate negotiators on Monday night reached an agreement on reauthorizing the SBIR program for six years and addressing the venture capital issue, a controversy that dates back to 2003. That’s when an administrative law judge ruled that small companies majority-owned by VC firms don’t qualify as small businesses since they aren’t independently owned...