Small Business Innovation Voucher Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill creates a new grant program through the Small Business Administration. It would provide small businesses with vouchers worth between $15,000 and $75,000. These vouchers are meant to help businesses pay for technical help and research services from colleges or nonprofit labs.
• The goal is to help small business owners who have innovative ideas but do not have the expensive equipment or specialized experts needed to develop them. By partnering with universities, these businesses can turn their concepts into real products that can be sold to the public.
• The government will not cover the entire cost of these partnerships. For grants under $50,000, the government will pay up to 75 percent of the bill. For larger grants up to $75,000, the government will pay half, and the small business must cover the other half of the cost.
• Congress plans to spend $10 million each year on this program through 2030. If the bill passes, the Small Business Administration would have six months to set up the rules and start accepting applications from business owners and their research partners.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.