[hdivider]

Yeah it's probably true that such things are the exception. But for a startup, a chance at e.g. a $256k SBIR Phase I and then $1.9M Phase II and the modern follow-on options in e.g. the Army (called the CATALYST program and other things) -- this one exception turns the company into something real.

So because the amounts are large (compared to commercial, in terms of when a customer first buys from a small company), those cases really make a huge difference.

[MoOmer]

Oh yeah, grants are great, but a completely different beast!

[hdivider]

I have to counter yet again, apologies. :) SBIRs yes are considered grants, but I've seen the same phenomenon for e.g. CRADAs and OTAs. Functionally this is all similar: we find them often on bad gov websites, and an automated tool to track changes can greatly help many companies to win them.