NSF America's Seed Fund: up to $2M, zero equity
NSF's SBIR/STTR program backs technically ambitious digital health startups with non-dilutive grants — no warrants, no equity, no royalties. The catch: you have to start with a free Project Pitch, not a full proposal.
How the application works
NSF screens fit before you commit to a full proposal. You submit a short Project Pitch first — if NSF thinks the work is in scope, they invite you to submit a Full Proposal against a quarterly deadline.
Submit a Project Pitch
Free, short-form, accepted year-round. NSF asks four things: the technical innovation, the R&D objectives and challenges, the market opportunity, and the team. Typical response time is 1–2 months.
If your project fits the program's innovation-risk profile, NSF sends a formal invitation to submit a Full Proposal. If not, you save weeks of effort.
Submit a Project Pitch →Submit a Full Proposal
Detailed technical proposal, budget, biosketches, commercialization plan. The next deadline for invited applicants is July 27, 2026, 5:00 PM (submitter local time).
Don't start a Full Proposal cold — Step 1 is the gating step. But once invited, register your company in SAM.gov immediately. SAM.gov registration can take several weeks, and a missing registration is the most common reason an invited company misses the deadline.
Full proposal information →What counts as “Digital Health”
NSF's Digital Health topic is broad. If your innovation could improve health outcomes, healthcare delivery, efficiency, cost, independence, or quality of life, and it has real technical risk, it likely fits. Topic includes:
- AI in healthcare and drug discovery
- Medical image analysis
- Personalized medicine and clinical decision support
- EHR / EMR tools and computer-aided diagnostics
- Smart and connected medical devices
- Behavioral health tools
- Rehabilitation and accessibility technologies
- Technologies serving aging or disabled populations
Full scope and recent funded examples: NSF Digital Health topic page.
Eligibility, in plain terms
- U.S.-based small business with fewer than 500 employees
- At least 50% of equity owned by U.S. citizens or permanent residents
- Funded work performed in the United States
- Principal investigator legally employed by the company ≥20 hours per week
The one action to take today
Don't draft anything else first. Spend an hour on the Project Pitch and let NSF tell you whether you're in scope. If they say yes, you'll know it before you sink weeks into a Full Proposal.
Start a Project Pitch on NSF →Charlotte Health Tech Briefing
Monthly updates on Charlotte's health tech ecosystem. New companies, funding news, and opportunities.