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New SBIR Phase III Catalog Advances the Procurement Process

The catalog puts mission-ready commercial technologies all in one place for government buyers.

The SBIR Phase III AWS Marketplace is a one-stop shop for commercial defense technology solutions. Credit: IC Production-stock.adobe.com generated with AI

Procurement officers can now browse and acquire sole-source eligible technology in one centralized place with SBIR Advisors’ creation of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase III catalog available only on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace.

SBIR Advisors is a company that helps technology startups win defense contracts by consulting with them throughout the stages of the SBIR program and preparing them to market their products to the defense sector. According to an SBIR Advisors press release, the company works with more than 180 technology startups and has helped its clients win more than $500 million in contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense.

The catalog resource, which launched Tuesday, is the first of its kind and acts as a channel for procurement officers to find sole-source eligible technology that has been funded by the government. The companies that are qualified to receive an SBIR Phase III sole-source contract have already gone through the research and development stages and have been previously competed, so buyers can bypass the competitive bidding process.

Technology companies can put their products in front of procurement officers, and government program offices that already have enterprise agreements with AWS can use the incentives and discounts they acquire through the agreements to purchase the technologies, said Bryan Guinn, chief technology officer of SBIR Advisors.

“These government buyers, again, are committing funds to AWS, and they get to the end of the year, and they have some additional funds, and for them to be able to use those funds through the SBIR Phase III AWS Marketplace, to actually get technology that's relevant and useful for their mission set, I think it's net positive,” Guinn told SIGNAL Media in an interview.

The catalog features companies’ capabilities with detailed descriptions of the technologies and a way to request a demo and a quote for the services. There is no limit on the number of entities that can request demos and pricing information from the companies, Guinn said.

Buyers will be able to search the site for a range of capability categories such as cybersecurity and zero trust; artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics; development, security and operations and cloud migration; digital modernization and automation; and secure communications and networks.

The first three independent software vendors on the marketplace are Traceless, Crave.io and Sequoia Inc. According to Guinn, Traceless and Sequoia Inc. were SBIR Advisors’ clients.

“When we presented this offering, we wanted to start out with technologies that we thought were most relevant,” Guinn said.

SBIR Advisors chose Sequoia for its cloud migration tool, Crave.io for its quick creation of the developer tool set and Traceless for its messaging platform encryption, Guinn said.

Guinn said the goal is to continually welcome new companies to the catalog. To help SBIR Advisors pay for the work that’s required to run the online storefront, the company is currently charging technology companies $4,500 to join. However, Guinn said SBIR Advisors will waive the onboarding fee for companies that already have the government interested in purchasing their solution via AWS Marketplace, and the hope is to not have to charge companies that much to join in the future.

Once companies pay the onboarding fee, their solutions are listed on the site indefinitely, Guinn said.

The catalog was designed with support from Vertosoft, a distributor of innovative technology solutions.

“Technology developed through the SBIR program is often at the leading edge of innovation,” said Josh Slattery, vice president of technology sales, Vertosoft, in the release. “In today’s environment, speed to mission is essential. We’re proud to support SBIR Advisors and their ISVs [independent software vendors] by providing a centralized, easy-to-navigate marketplace where government buyers can quickly find and acquire proven SBIR-backed solutions. We believe this will empower agencies to make faster, smarter and more cost-effective procurement decisions.”