The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced it has awarded more than $8 million in Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program grants.
The grants, given to 50 organizations across the country, will provide small businesses and startups with up to $180,000 each to engage in specialized training, mentoring and technical assistance that will help them compete for funding through America’s Seed Fund.
“America’s economic and national security depends on our ability to continue to out-innovate, out-build, and out-compete every nation in the world,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said. “The Trump SBA is expanding America’s small businesses’ seat at the table in building the technologies and supply chains that are strengthening our industrial and economic future. These FAST awards will help innovators across the country turn breakthrough ideas into American jobs, stronger communities, and the next generation of commercial and national-security leadership.”
America’s Seed Fund, which includes the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, is the nation’s largest source of early-stage, non-dilutive funding for technology startups, officials said. Both programs help tech innovators take bold ideas from research and development to commercialization.
The FAST program supports entrepreneurs and connects them to the SBIR and STTR opportunities. FAST awardee organizations work locally to provide person-to-person assistance in identifying those paths from research to commercialization.
This year, the FAST Program expanded its footprint and increased engagement nationwide, awarding organizations across 49 states and Puerto Rico so entrepreneurs outside of traditional technology hubs can have greater access to the funding. Forty-three FAST awardees from the 2026 cohort were selected for an additional year of funding, while seven new small business endeavors have been added to the program.
Included in the cohort are The Catalyst Center for Business & Entrepreneurship in Alabama, the University of Delaware in Delaware, and the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation in Kentucky.