Sources
- USASpending.gov — contract award obligations for SBIR/STTR keyword passes.
- SBIR.gov — historical award and topic records for backfill and enrichment.
- SAM.gov / DSIP / WERX — forward-looking opportunities (not used in historical dependency totals).
Technology domains
Awards may carry a controlled vocabulary of technology tags (e.g. Artificial Intelligence/ML, Hypersonics, C4ISR). Tags come from AI enrichment when configured, with keyword fallbacks. An award can have multiple tech domains.
Platform domains
Platform domains describe where a capability is applied, independent of technology:
- Aerospace
- Space
- Ground Vehicles
- Naval Surface
- Undersea
- Missiles & Munitions
- Soldier/Dismounted
- Enterprise/Infrastructure
Classification uses deterministic keyword matching over description, agency, and tech tags so it runs offline and stays auditable. See Trends for platform velocity.
SBIR vs STTR
Program is parsed from award descriptions and source fields. Filters on browse, trends, dependency, and geo can restrict to SBIR or STTR only.
Dependency & intensity
- Intensity (award count): high = 10+ awards, moderate = 5–9, low = fewer (the “mills” proxy discussed in the SBIR community when private revenue is unavailable).
- Dependency %: when non-SBIR federal contract dollars are cached for a firm,
% SBIR = SBIR $ / (SBIR $ + other federal $). High ≥ 50%, moderate 25–49%, low < 25%. - Private company gross revenue is not public and is never fabricated.
Velocity / heating scores
For each tech or platform tag we compare the latest full award year to the prior year. YoY growth ≥ +15% is marked heating; ≤ −15% cooling. Scores blend absolute dollars with growth so large and fast-rising areas surface together.
Geographic figures
State maps use place-of-performance state codes on award records when present — a proxy for where work is performed, not always corporate headquarters.
Research dataset export
Team and Enterprise plans can download filtered CSV including tech and platform tags via Research dataset and the existing awards export APIs.