2025 USDA SBIR Cohort Program

This ten-week accelerator will take participants from registration to submission for the FY25 US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Tech Transfer (SBIR/STTR) GRANT program. Do you have an idea to innovate agriculture or food? Or a unique way to support rural communities and/or small farms? The USDA SBIR/STTR grant program can help you bring your idea to life.

Who is this for? Small for-profit Hawaii companies that have an innovative solution in improve the agriculture industry, or supports rural communities or small farms. This cohort program will help you apply for federal grant funding.

Why should you apply? This cohort is a hand-on live program that will guide you through the entire process of building a solid grant application. You’ll go through the process with an excellent guide as well as like-minded companies as peers.

When should you apply? Application is open NOW and will be due 5pm HT, June 27, 2025.

Program Details:

Program Start – Third week of July, with weekly meetings for next ten weeks.

In-person session – August 27 – 28, 2025.

Wrap up – September 24, 2025

Info session recording

Learn more about the cohort program from the info session, including what is the USDA SBIR/STTR program, why it might be a good option for your company, and the commitment the program requires.

This is the info session slide deck.

If you have any questions, please email sbir@htdc.org.

If you need an auxiliary aid/service or other accommodation due to a disability, contact Karlton Tomomitsu at (808) 539-3794 and/or ada@htdc.org as soon as possible. Requests made as early as possible have a greater likelihood of being fulfilled. Upon request, this notice is available in alternate formats.