SBIR Reauthorization

The Small Business Innovation Research program is a lifeline for Kinetic River and so many other highly innovative companies. It has allowed us to take risks and develop novel technologies that need time and support to come to fruition.

We extend our gratitude to Sens. Ernst and Markey for forging this reauthorization and leading Congress to restore this vital and very successful program. Our founder and CEO said it best: “The SBIR program isn’t obscure government policy; it’s the fundamental driver of innovation in this country.”

Unless this is a belated April Fool’s joke, this ends (for 5.5 years) the SBIR reauthorization saga many of us have had to deal with since last September. My appreciation and gratitude to the Senators and Congresspeople who came together, in this age of hyperpolarization, to find a compromise and pass this bill, with overwhelming, veto-proof majority in the House and unanimously in the Senate. 

The SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) program isn’t obscure government policy; it’s the fundamental driver of innovation in this country. It’s what makes it possible for companies like mine, and thousands of others, to take risks, sometimes for years, and build something better—for the price of a rounding error in the government budget. I’m super excited that this vital program, unique the world over in its ambition, scope, and impact, is back on the books.