MLabs pursues layered non-dilutive funding rather than one large award. The pipeline below was verified the morning of 27 May 2026 and changes week to week — treat every status as a snapshot, never a promise.
| Program | Ceiling | Window | LLC can lead? | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOAA Great Lakes Fish Habitat | $12M pool | deadline 4 Sep 2026 | Yes | Open |
| NSF SBIR Phase I · Project Pitch | $305k | rolling, pending restart | Yes | Paused |
| USDA NRCS Conservation Innovation | ~$250k | FY26, to be announced | Yes | Monitor |
| EPA SBIR Phase I | $100k | spring–summer 2026 | Yes | Expected |
| NIH NIEHS SBIR R43 | $306k | 5 Sep · 5 Jan | With co-I | PA reissue |
| DoD SERDP · PFAS sensing | varies | pre-proposal Nov 2026 | Yes | FY27 plan |
| Program | Range | Note | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan Emerging Technologies Fund | $25k–125k | match mechanism, conditional on an SBIR award | Engage BBCetc |
| Great Lakes Protection Fund | varies | 2026 RFP closed 18 Mar; watch for 2027 cycle | Closed cycle |
| EPA Environmental Justice grants | — | terminated by statute (P.L. 119-21, Jul 2025) | Closed |
A credentialed environmental-health co-investigator (the Wayne State IEHS direct-ask) unlocks the NIH/NIEHS path and materially strengthens every other federal application. For a one-person LLC, securing that collaboration outranks any individual submission.
UEI assigned. SAM.gov, Grants.gov, SBA registry, eRA Commons, Research.gov, and Michigan SIGMA are the gating steps before any federal dollar can move.
Many NSF programs exclude for-profit LLCs except through SBIR/STTR. The pipeline above is filtered to what MLabs can actually lead or co-lead.
SBIR Phase I award rates run low double digits. Timelines and ceilings here are upper bounds, not expectations.