[thelock85]

This is somewhat akin to the U.S. government's SBIR grant program. Phase I (generally $250-500K for a year)to develop and pilot novel tech. Phase II ($1M) to develop scalable tech. And Phase III to go-to-market. (I'm being intentionally brief here as there is a lot of variability between participating agencies).

Because each award solicitation is closely aligned to the industry needs associated with a given agency (DoD, DHS, HHS, NSF, DoEd, DoEnergy, DoCommerce, USDA, EPA, DoT, NASA), you are on a fast-track if you can get into Phase I.

It's a ton of paperwork and bureaucracy --probably even more so under current administration-- but still a great alternative/addition to VC that doesn't take equity and forces you into technical clarity.