The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), one of the components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announces the “$100,000 Start an SUD Startup” Challenge.
Donor Name: National Institute on Drug Abuse
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Awards and Prizes
Deadline: 02/05/2026
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
The Challenge goal is to support research ideas in the areas of drug use, misuse, and substance use disorder (SUD) that are intended to be the foundation for developing successful new startups. NIDA expects that the Challenge will enable the winning Teams to test the premise that their research idea can be fostered into a biotech startup, and that eventually the newly created startups will contribute to the pool of innovative small business companies that can successfully compete for NIDA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding.
Prizes
The total cash prize purse for this Challenge is up to $100,000, and up to 12 non-cash prizes will be awarded as well. The Challenge is to be administered in two stages. In Stage 1, up to 12 winning Teams will be awarded a non-cash prize of a 6-month long product development mentorship from NIDA entrepreneurship experts. To successfully complete the training program, the entire Team must be deeply committed and dedicated to the time-intensive mentorship curriculum. Each Team member should plan to spend at least 25 hours per month on mentoring seminars and learning exercises for the entire duration of the 6-month program. In Stage 2, the Teams that put in the required time and effort to successfully complete the training process, culminating in each Team’s startup presentation, will be awarded up to $10,000 per Team.
Eligibility Requirements
The Challenge is open to Teams of participants 18 years of age or older. No prior startup experience is necessary. A Team is defined as a group of individuals assembled with the purpose of participating in this Challenge. Each Team must be a group of no less than three and no more than five individual participants. Each Team is required to identify a Team Leader who is a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, registers and submits a required Submission Package on behalf of the Team, and is responsible for accepting any prize money in full and distributing it to the other Team members. Teams may be a newly formed group of founders, may be part of an entity (e.g., academic institution, non-profit organization), or may have applied to past “Start an SUD Startup” Challenge competitions. If the Team applied to a past Challenge and was not selected for a prize, they may apply again with the same or a new idea, and if the Team applied to a past Challenge and was selected for a prize, they may apply again with a new idea. SBIR and STTR grantees with currently active grants and SBIR/STTR applicants with grant applications currently under review are not eligible to participate in this Challenge.
To be eligible to win a cash or non-cash prize under this Challenge, individuals participating as part of a Team —
- Shall have registered to participate in the Challenge under the rules promulgated by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as published in this announcement;
- Shall have complied with all the requirements set forth in this announcement;
- In the case of a Team, the Team Leader shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. However, non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents can participate as a member of a Team that otherwise satisfies the eligibility criteria. Non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents are not eligible to win a monetary prize (in whole or in part). Their participation as part of a winning Team, if applicable, may be recognized when the results are announced.
- Shall not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment;
- Shall not be an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS, or any other component of HHS) acting in their personal capacity;
- Who are employed by a federal agency or entity other than HHS (or any component of HHS), should consult with an agency ethics official to determine whether the federal ethics rules will limit or prohibit the acceptance of a prize under this Challenge;
- Shall not be a judge of the Challenge, or any other party involved with the design, production, execution, or distribution of the Challenge or the immediate family of such a party (i.e., spouse, parent, step-parent, child, or step-child).
- Must have an intention to form a United States-based startup or be a United States-based new startup (i.e., in the early stage of formation and growth).
- Shall be 18 years of age or older at the time of submission.
Participation Rules
- Participants (participating as a group of individuals) may not use federal funds from a grant award or cooperative agreement to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions.
- Federal contractors may not use federal funds from a contract to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions.
- By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (participating as a group of individuals) agrees to assume any and all risks and waive claims against the federal government and its related entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from participation in this Challenge, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise.
- Based on the subject matter of the Challenge, the type of work that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis of the likelihood of any claims for death, bodily injury, property damage, or loss potentially resulting from Challenge participation, no Participant (participating as a group of individuals) participating in the Challenge is required to obtain liability insurance, or demonstrate financial responsibility, or agree to indemnify the federal government against third party claims for damages arising from or related to Challenge activities in order to participate in this Challenge.
- A Participant (participating as a group of individuals) shall not be deemed ineligible because the Participant used federal facilities or consulted with federal employees during the Challenge if the facilities and employees are made available to all Participants participating in the Challenge on an equitable basis.
- By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (participating as a group of individuals) warrants that they are sole author or owner of, or has the right to use, any copyrightable works that the submission comprises, that the works are wholly original with the Participant (or is an improved version of an existing work that the Participant has sufficient rights to use and improve), and that the submission does not infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which the Participant is aware.
- By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (participating as a group of individuals) grants to the NIH an irrevocable, paid-up, royalty-free nonexclusive worldwide license to publish, post, link to, share, and display publicly the Participants’ names and the title and/or summary of their submission on the web or elsewhere. Each Participant will retain all other intellectual property rights in their submissions, as applicable. To participate in the Challenge, each Participant must warrant that there are no legal obstacles to providing the above-referenced nonexclusive licenses of the Participant’s rights to the federal government. To receive an award, Participants will not be required to transfer their intellectual property rights to NIH, but Participants must grant to the federal government the nonexclusive licenses recited herein.
- Each Participant (participating as a group of individuals) agrees to follow all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies.
- Each Participant (participating as a group of individuals) participating in this Challenge must comply with all terms and conditions of these rules, and participation in this Challenge constitutes each such Participant’s full and unconditional agreement to abide by these rules. Winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein.
Judging Criteria
Basis Upon Which Stage 1 Winners Will be Selected. The judging panel, comprised of federal employee scientists, will consider the following 4 criteria and make recommendations to the award approving official based upon their assessments of the criteria.
- Team/Founders Aptitudes (0-20 points). Does the Team demonstrate a high level of ability and dedication? Is the passion, drive, discipline, ability to work collaboratively, and willingness to push forward under conditions of extreme business uncertainty successfully demonstrated? Is the commitment to participate in the 6-month mentorship process documented? Is the eagerness for coaching demonstrated?
- Validation of Unmet Need (0-10 points). Is there a significant need for the proposed product or service? Does the project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field of SUD/drug use/misuse research? How was the presence of the need established and validated? Is there any evidence of market research?
- Idea Novelty (0-5 points). Does the proposed idea utilize novel theoretical concepts, approaches, methodologies, instrumentation, service, or interventions for SUD/drug use/misuse research? Will the resulting product successfully differentiate from the currently used approaches and practices to address this same validated need?
- Commercialization (0-10 points). Are the product end-users and purchasers clearly identified? Is there evidence of market research or analysis of competitors? Is there a clear regulatory path for the product/service to reach the market? Is there a clear reimbursement path for the product/service to reach the market?
For more information, visit NIDA.
