Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program

About this programme

The Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program is run by the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Investment and Innovation (OII) — the same office that oversees the national SBIR/STTR programs. FAST does not fund individual startups directly. Instead, SBA awards a cooperative agreement, once a year, to one organization per eligible state or territory — a state economic development agency, university, nonprofit, or similar entity, endorsed in writing by that state's governor — to run a program that helps small businesses in that state win SBIR/STTR awards.

The organization that receives a FAST award then delivers outreach, technical and business assistance, and financial support (grants or loans covering Phase 0 proposal-development costs, conference travel, or gaps between SBIR/STTR phases) to small businesses and entrepreneurs in its state. For a founder, the practical path into FAST is not applying to SBA — it is finding out whether your state currently has a funded FAST awardee and using the services that organization offers.

The program was created by the Small Business Reauthorization Act of 2000 (15 U.S.C. 657d), lapsed after its original statutory sunset in 2005, and has been re-appropriated in subsequent years, most recently under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 (Pub. L. No. 119-75). Because it depends on annual appropriations, both the pool of eligible states and the funding amount can change each fiscal year.

For FY 2026 (Funding Opportunity No. SBA-OIIFT-26-001), SBA made $9,000,000 available in total, capped at $180,000 per award, and restricted eligibility to states and territories that did not already have a funded FAST recipient — a rotating list that keeps the program from stacking money on the same handful of states every year.

How it works

SBA runs one competition per fiscal year. Only public/private entities, organizations, or individuals located in states or territories without a currently funded FAST recipient may apply, and each eligible state may have only one applicant, endorsed by the governor (or their authorized designee) as that state's sole entry.

Each award is a cooperative agreement for a single 12-month budget/project period. For FY 2026, that period runs from September 30, 2026 to September 29, 2027 — this NOFO does not carry optional multi-year renewal periods; a recipient's ability to receive a future award depends on applying again in a subsequent fiscal year's competition.

Every award carries a non-federal cost-share (matching) requirement. The match rate is tiered by how many SBIR/STTR Phase I awards the applicant's state received in the most recent ranking year: states with the fewest Phase I awards match $0.50 for every federal $1; mid-tier states match $0.75 for every federal $1; and states with the most Phase I awards match $1 for every federal $1. At least 50% of an applicant's match must be cash; the rest can be indirect costs or in-kind contributions. Up to 5% of the award can go to Planning Activities, which are exempt from the match requirement.

Recipients use the money for three categories of activity: stakeholder engagement and training to widen the SBIR/STTR applicant pipeline; technical and business assistance (proposal help, mentoring networks, commercialization support); and financial support — grants or loans to small businesses covering Phase 0 proposal-development costs, conference attendance, or bridge funding between SBIR/STTR phases.

Recipients may not act as a pass-through: they cannot contract out more than 49% of the project (measured by project funds) or hand day-to-day management to another party.

Who can apply

To apply for a FAST award itself, an applicant must be a public or private entity, organization, or individual based in an eligible state/territory (the eligible list changes each fiscal year — it excludes any state that already has a funded FAST recipient), must be endorsed in writing by that state's governor or their authorized designee as the sole applicant from that state, and must intend to use the funds to provide outreach, technical/business assistance, and/or financial support that increases SBIR/STTR proposals and awards.

An applicant is automatically ineligible if it: owes an unresolved financial obligation to the federal government; is suspended or debarred from federal awards; has an unresolved Single Audit Act / OMB Circular A-133 material deficiency reported in the past three years; had a prior FAST award involuntarily terminated or non-renewed for cause in the past year; has filed for bankruptcy in the past five years; proposes to act as a pass-through with another organization running day-to-day operations; or has had an officer/agent convicted of a federal felony in the preceding two years. An applicant may submit only one proposal per competition.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs are not FAST applicants — they are the intended beneficiaries. Eligibility to receive help from a state's FAST-funded program is set by that state organization, not by this funding opportunity.

How to apply

1. Confirm your state currently has an active, SBA-funded FAST awardee (SBIR.gov lists current awardees by state) and contact that organization directly for the services, training, or Phase 0 funding it offers.
2. If your organization intends to apply to SBA to become the FAST awardee for an eligible state, obtain and maintain an active Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) from SAM.gov before registering with Grants.gov.
3. Watch SBIR.gov's FAST community page and Grants.gov for the annual Notice of Funding Opportunity; SBA typically opens the competition mid-year with a roughly seven-week window (the FY2026 cycle, Funding Opportunity No. SBA-OIIFT-26-001, opened June 2, 2026 and closed July 22, 2026, 4:00 p.m. Eastern).
4. Secure a signed Governor's Letter of Endorsement naming your organization as the state's sole applicant — this is a mandatory attachment, not optional.
5. Assemble the technical proposal (1-page cover letter plus a 10-page narrative, single-spaced, size-12 font) addressing the four scored sections: Organizational Experience and Capacity, Project Management, Coordination Across State and Regional SBIR/STTR Efforts, and Project Design.
6. Prepare the required attachments, budget package, and certifications (see Documents below) and submit everything electronically through Grants.gov before the stated deadline — no other submission method is accepted, and late submissions are rejected without review.

Documents you’ll typically need

• Cover letter (1 page) and technical proposal (max 10 pages)
• Standard Form (SF) 424 — Application for Federal Assistance
• SF-424A — Budget Information (Non-Construction Programs)
• Budget Detail Worksheet and Budget Narrative
• Cost Policy Statement
• Match Documentation (category and sources of non-federal matching funds)
• Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA), if claiming negotiated indirect costs — or an election of the 15% de minimis rate
• Résumés or position descriptions for the Project Director and key management personnel (max 2 pages each)
• Copies of contracts and consulting agreements
• Organizational chart with Board of Directors / Advisory Board list
• Milestones chart (monthly projections for all project activities)
• Governor's Letter of Endorsement, naming the applicant as the state's sole applicant
• Summary of FAST Program Achievements (only for organizations that received FAST funding 2022-2026)
• Most recent A-133 audit report (or most recent financial statements if not subject to the Single Audit Act)

Frequently asked

Reviewed 2026-08-16. Programmes change — confirm current eligibility, amounts and deadlines on the official page before you apply. CapEasy is a private consultancy and is not affiliated with any government authority.