This two-year initiative is designed to strengthen American innovation, entrepreneurship, and technological competitiveness by increasing the number and quality of proposals submitted to the National Science Foundation’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs from entrepreneurs in EPSCoR states.
TEC-HEROES will help expand the nation’s innovation pipeline by equipping entrepreneurs with the skills, guidance, and resources needed to move promising ideas toward commercialization and national impact. Through targeted training, individualized coaching, proposal development support, and other technical assistance, the initiative will strengthen participation across the NSF SBIR/STTR pipeline and help more innovators compete successfully for America’s Seed Fund powered by NSF. By broadening access to federal innovation resources, TEC-HEROES will help ensure that breakthrough ideas, emerging technologies, and entrepreneurial talent from across the country contribute to U.S. economic growth, technological leadership, job creation, and long-term global competitiveness.
Disclaimer statement: This work is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2629493. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on posted materials are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.