For small businesses that are into developing new technologies, there is a wide range of options for federal grants. The Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Technology of US two important programs – the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. As the innovative, high-tech and small businesses are significant part of Government’s research and development programs, SBA ensures financing through the two programs.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program was established in 1982 to support different technological improvement by American small business owners. It was comprised of ten federal agencies with an annual external research and development of more than one hundred million. They contribute 2.5% of their funds to award small business in the form of loan grants. Generally, the grants are offered annually based on certain competition.

Like SBIR, the Small Business Technological Transfer (SBTT) program is another source of federal technology grants. By 2009 SBIR and SBTT decided an annually $2 billion award to small high-tech businesses. The SBTT is formed with five different agencies with more than one billion research and development budgets per annum. These agencies contributed 15% of their funds to award collaborative efforts between non-profit research institutions and smaller businesses.

If you want to apply for a federal technology grant you need to collect detail information on different federal agencies and their programs. Apart from that, you also need to know about the application procedures, program descriptions, deadlines, budget, approval time, their requirements, contact information, etc. The most important aspect of your search lies in finding an agency that offers loan for your specific purpose.

You can log on to Grants.gov to find extensive information about the Government grants available. You can also apply for your loan through the website. However, you should contact the agency you are applying to ensure if they are using Grants.gov.