Federal Grants for Small Business

Updated Oct 20, 2026

Most federal grants go to states, universities and nonprofits, but some are open to small businesses. Today 478 open federal grants accept applications from small businesses: 382 name small businesses among the eligible applicants and 96 are open to any applicant.

Most of them are research grants: the largest numbers come from National Institutes of Health (340), Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity - DHACA (38) and U.S. National Science Foundation (35). Grants are rarely money to start or grow an ordinary business: the Small Business Administration says it gives no grants for that. For most small businesses the bigger market is contracts: 10,201 open federal contract opportunities today, 4,273 of them set aside for small businesses.

Closing soonest

15 close within a week. Each grant has its page here with who can apply, the award amounts and the full description; the application itself is made on Grants.gov.

By agency

• National Institutes of Health 340
• Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity - DHACA 38
• U.S. National Science Foundation 35
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - ERA 7
• Fish and Wildlife Service 6
• National Institute of Justice 6
• DOC NOAA - ERA Production 6
• Air Force -- Research Lab 5
• Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention 4
• Bureau of Justice Assistance 3
• Golden Field Office 3
• Idaho Field Office 2
• Rural Business-Cooperative Service 2
• Office of Science 2
• Food and Drug Administration 2
• Centers for Disease Control - NCBDDD 1
• NASA Headquarters 1
• National Park Service 1
• National Energy Technology Laboratory 1
• Geological Survey 1

Source: Grants.gov's public daily extract of federal funding opportunities, read once a day. Only grants still open and open to small businesses (or to any applicant) are listed.