The Small Business Innovation Research (or SBIR) program is a U.S. government funding program, coordinated by the Small Business Administration, intended to help certain small businesses conduct research and development (R&D). Funding takes the form of contracts or grants. The recipient projects must have the potential for commercialization and must meet specific U.S. government R&D needs. Funds are obtained by allocating a certain percentage of the total extramural (R&D) budgets of the 11 federal agencies with extramural research budgets in excess of $100 million. Approximately $2.5 billion is awarded through this program each year. The United States Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest agency in this program with approximately $1 billion in SBIR grants annually. Over half the awards from the DoD are to firms with fewer than 25 people and a third to firms of fewer than 10. A fifth are minority or women-owned businesses. Historically a quarter of the companies receiving grants are receiving them for the first time. In April 2021, the DoD reported on a lack of due diligence for SBIR recipients, which permitted funds to go toward companies linked to the People's Liberation Army. In 2022, the program was reauthorized with additional disclosure requirements for companies that have ties to "any foreign country of concern, including the People’s Republic of China.” Participating agencies Each Federal agency with an extramural budget for R&D in excess of $100,000,000 must participate in the SBIR Program and reserve at least 3.2% of such budget in fiscal year 2017 and each fiscal year after. A Federal agency may exceed these minimum percentages. In 2010, the SBIR program across 11 federal agencies provided over $2 Billion in grants and contracts to small U.S. businesses for research in innovation leading to commercialization. , SBIR programs are in place at the following agencies: Department of Agriculture (National Institute of Food and Agriculture) Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Department of Defense (divided into 13 components) Department of the Army Department of the Navy Department of the Air Force Chemical and Biological Defense Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Defense Health Agency Defense Logistics Agency Defense Microelectronics Activity Defense Threat Reduction Agency Missile Defense Agency National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Office of the Secretary of Defense Special Operations Command Department of Education (Institute of Education Sciences) Department of Energy Department of Health and Human Services (National Institutes of