Grant awarded
A company receives an SBIR, NIH, DOE, or other government research grant.
Grants come with money that must be spent on the project, often on tools, equipment, and contractors. They also show which companies are moving from research toward a product.
- Strength
- Good
- Act within
- The year after the award
- Best for
- Companies selling to research-led startups and labs
How we detect it
Runs on SBIR.gov, NIH RePORTER, Apify, and Clay.
- Pull awards from SBIR.gov, NIH RePORTER, and agency databases for your categories.
- Read the project description to match it to what you sell.
What it triggers
An opening line, to show the angle. It never goes out as written.
Phase II teams usually find the hardest part is the year after the grant, when the buyers want a product and the reviewers wanted a paper. How are you planning that?
- Email: Write to the principal investigator or founder about the project’s next stage.
- Content: Share material on moving from grant-funded research to a product.
Where it goes wrong
- Treating the grant as free budget for anything. It is tied to the project.
Stack it with
A second signal on the same account moves it up.
Government contract award
A company wins a public sector contract that will need staff, tools, or services to deliver.
FDA clearance or approval
A medical device or drug company receives FDA clearance or approval for a product.
More public records signals
Every public records signalNamed in a public filing or earnings call
A public company names a priority, risk, or initiative in an annual report, quarterly filing, or earnings call that your product addresses.
New permits and licenses
A business files for a building permit, a new license, or a registration in a public record.
Competitors’ public sector contracts
The government agencies that buy from your competitors, found through public contract records and public records requests.
FAQs about this signal
A company receives an SBIR, NIH, DOE, or other government research grant. Grants come with money that must be spent on the project, often on tools, equipment, and contractors. They also show which companies are moving from research toward a product.
Pull awards from SBIR.gov, NIH RePORTER, and agency databases for your categories. Read the project description to match it to what you sell. Understory Agency runs it on SBIR.gov, NIH RePORTER, Apify, and Clay.
The window to act is the year after the award. Understory Agency routes it to email and content. Write to the principal investigator or founder about the project’s next stage. Share material on moving from grant-funded research to a product.
It works best for companies selling to research-led startups and labs. It is strongest alongside “Government contract award” and “FDA clearance or approval”.
Or let us run it for you
Understory Agency's GTM engineers build the detection in Clay, wire it to the play that fits, and sync every touch to your CRM. Tell us who you sell to, and we'll show you where we would start.