SBIR/STTR offers funding opportunities for 3 phases of technology development. Phase I is the initial proof-of-concept phase. Phase II is a fuller research-and-development stage of successful Phase I projects. The Phase IIB Bridge facilitates acceleration of project commercialization, a critical period commonly referred to as the “Valley of Death,” during which many companies fail. The Bridge was specifically instituted to deal with startups’ need for resources to advance their technology to a key inflection point — typically into human clinical trials. As early investment from the NCI has decreased the risk of failure for projects entering Phase IIB, projects have a high success rate for commercialization. Of note, the major distinguishing feature of the STTR program from the SBIR program is that projects must involve a cooperative research-and-development arrangement between small businesses and research institutions. Additionally, the project director/principal investigator in the STTR program is not required to have his/her main employment from the small business for the duration of the grant. For more information on these programs and resources, see https://sbir.cancer.gov/programseducation.