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In the USA, are government grants for startups a big thing? As in Canada, it seems like half the startups are heavily built around them. In the US I would imag

In the USA, are government grants for startups a big thing? As in Canada, it seems like half the startups are heavily built around them. In the US I would imagine they are drowned out of relevance by VC funding.

paxys 5y ago
The best thing the US government does for tech startups is completely staying out of their way. There is, however, a Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit which pretty much every company makes use of.
- lostlogin 5y ago
  Except when they could do with getting in the way, but then don’t. Remembering recent stories there have been problems with adtech, spyware (same thing?), tech monopoly behaviour, privacy violations, treatment of workers, dubious automation etc.
- arcturus17 5y ago
  In the EU however we think that shelling out a billion - peanuts in the grand scheme of things - and then some certificates which amount to a big thumbs up (“Ursula von der Leyde and 25 others like this”) will create a vibrant startup ecosystem. I’ve been extremely supportive of the EU all my life but I’m starting to wonder if politicians are in any way connected to the ground-level reality of business and personal life.
- cgearhart 5y ago
  That might be true for consumer tech startups, but they do have programs to help startups. SBIRs, STTRs, FAST, and other programs (not to mention funding from agencies like DARPA) are all run by the federal government. It’s just that they typically invest in things that likely wouldn’t be funded by VCs due to high risk & limited market (e.g., advanced technology development for the military or space).
fny 5y ago
Yes. Certain businesses qualify for grants from the small business administration in the US: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/grants https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/grants
sethhochberg 5y ago
It depends a lot on what you're doing. Things genuinely close to the bleeding edge of technology often get DARPA funding, and the list of DARPA alumni companies is pretty long - even for stuff that at face value might not have military applications. But what most people think of when thinking about the "startup scene" is mostly private VC funds. There are various other small business grants from federal and state governments, but they're generally dwarfed by the private investors.
ecshafer 5y ago
There are grants for Defense related start ups.
gilbetron 5y ago
The US has (amongst other things) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIRs) Grants/Contracts, that the DoD plus various other gov orgs (NIH, NSF, NASA, FBI, etc) put out once or more a year that looks for research ideas for lots of things. I worked for a company for almost a decade and a half that dealt with them, and it lets you work on lots of fun stuff! https://www.sbir.gov/sbirsearch/topic/current https://www.sbir.gov/sbirsearch/topic/current There are some startups that actually launch using them, but they are relatively rare because when you are a startup you want to focus on finding your product or service, and not spend a lot of time filling out grant proposals and progress reports and going to governmental meetings. So they can be a big distraction. Still, it is an option.

paxys 5y ago

The best thing the US government does for tech startups is completely staying out of their way. There is, however, a Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit which pretty much every company makes use of.

lostlogin 5y ago
Except when they could do with getting in the way, but then don’t. Remembering recent stories there have been problems with adtech, spyware (same thing?), tech monopoly behaviour, privacy violations, treatment of workers, dubious automation etc.
arcturus17 5y ago
In the EU however we think that shelling out a billion - peanuts in the grand scheme of things - and then some certificates which amount to a big thumbs up (“Ursula von der Leyde and 25 others like this”) will create a vibrant startup ecosystem. I’ve been extremely supportive of the EU all my life but I’m starting to wonder if politicians are in any way connected to the ground-level reality of business and personal life.
cgearhart 5y ago
That might be true for consumer tech startups, but they do have programs to help startups. SBIRs, STTRs, FAST, and other programs (not to mention funding from agencies like DARPA) are all run by the federal government. It’s just that they typically invest in things that likely wouldn’t be funded by VCs due to high risk & limited market (e.g., advanced technology development for the military or space).

fny 5y ago

Yes. Certain businesses qualify for grants from the small business administration in the US: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/grants https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/grants

sethhochberg 5y ago

It depends a lot on what you're doing. Things genuinely close to the bleeding edge of technology often get DARPA funding, and the list of DARPA alumni companies is pretty long - even for stuff that at face value might not have military applications. But what most people think of when thinking about the "startup scene" is mostly private VC funds. There are various other small business grants from federal and state governments, but they're generally dwarfed by the private investors.

ecshafer 5y ago

There are grants for Defense related start ups.

gilbetron 5y ago

The US has (amongst other things) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIRs) Grants/Contracts, that the DoD plus various other gov orgs (NIH, NSF, NASA, FBI, etc) put out once or more a year that looks for research ideas for lots of things. I worked for a company for almost a decade and a half that dealt with them, and it lets you work on lots of fun stuff! https://www.sbir.gov/sbirsearch/topic/current https://www.sbir.gov/sbirsearch/topic/current There are some startups that actually launch using them, but they are relatively rare because when you are a startup you want to focus on finding your product or service, and not spend a lot of time filling out grant proposals and progress reports and going to governmental meetings. So they can be a big distraction. Still, it is an option.