Startups in Nebraska are being encouraged to apply for the U.S. federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants, despite threats to the funding programme from the ongoing government shutdown and lack of reauthorisation. Panelists at Nebraska’s Startup Week noted that while some SBIR funding is currently ‘at-risk’, successful recipients have leveraged SBIR awards to scale rapidly. The push highlights how public-sector innovation vehicles remain critical for early-stage firms even when fiscal uncertainty mounts.