Among NSF activities, the SBIR/STTR program has a unique goal to attract high-tech startups and small businesses from diverse audiences nationwide. To better engage this distinct audience, NSF presents a new SBIR/STTR website (seedfund.nsf.gov), which maintains the NSF brand while providing a more tailored look, tone and presentation aimed at entrepreneurs.
Over the past few months, the NSF SBIR team worked with 18F - an office within the General Services Administration (GSA) tasked with building effective, user-centric digital services for government - to explore the most effective ways to reach target audiences and redesign the website. As part of this process, 18F interviewed applicants, grantees, former grantees and qualified entrepreneurs or small businesses who hadn’t heard of NSF’s SBIR program. The results informed the design, tone and presentation of the new site. The updated logo and brand elements, created by Brunet-García Advertising, build on the government-wide SBIR tagline – “America’s Seed Fund.”