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SBIR Dependency: Mills, Transition, and Federal Footprint

How to spot firms whose federal revenue is mostly SBIR — and why primes and investors care.

Private company revenue is not public. Useful public proxies:

  • Award intensity — firms with 10+ SBIR/STTR awards over a multi-year window are often heavily SBIR-dependent.
  • Federal dependency % — when non-SBIR federal contract dollars are available from USASpending, we show SBIR as a share of SBIR + other federal contracts.

Explore the live ranking on the Dependency hub, compare firms side-by-side at Firm compare, and read the formula on Methodology.