NASA, Navy and SpaceWERX Head to Maui for 2026 Hawaii SBIR Conference

By Grace Kim

Eight federal agencies — including NASA, the US Navy and SpaceWERX — will send representatives to Maui on Friday, Nov. 6, for the 2026 Hawaiʻi SBIR Conference at the Malcolm Center in Kīhei.

The one-day event connects Hawaii's entrepreneurs, researchers, technology companies and students with the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, the nation's largest source of non-dilutive research and development funding for small businesses.

Non-dilutive means founders keep their equity. Companies use the money to turn innovative ideas into commercial products — no investor slice, no give-up of control.

The Maui Economic Development Board hosts the conference, and the Hawaiʻi Technology Development Corporation presents it. It forms part of a statewide series of innovation and entrepreneurship events across the Hawaiian Islands, linking local innovators with federal agencies and SBIR/STTR funding through America's Seed Fund.

What's on the agenda?

The program leans hard into SBIR opportunities in the space sector. It also gives attendees direct access to federal program leaders through four formats:

• Presentations
• Panel discussions
• Networking sessions
• One-on-one meetings

Agencies expected to participate:

• NASA
• NOAA
• US Department of Energy
• USDA
• US Navy
• SpaceWERX
• MDA
• US Small Business Administration

Those representatives will lay out agency priorities, current funding opportunities and upcoming solicitations.

What will attendees actually learn?

The conference walks participants through the full lifecycle of an SBIR or STTR award: the application process, proposal development and commercialization strategies. The program also features Hawaii companies that have already secured SBIR funding and brought new technologies to market — proof the pipeline works from the islands.

That local proof matters. Attendees won't just hear abstract program rules; they'll hear from neighbors who won the money and shipped the products.

Who gets in free?

MEDB is offering complimentary registration for Maui-based faculty and students, part of an effort to pull the next generation of innovators into the federal funding ecosystem. Interested faculty and students should contact [email protected] to claim the waiver.

For everyone else, registration is open now, and organizers urge early sign-ups to secure a seat.

Why this matters for Hawaii's tech economy

The SBIR and STTR programs exist to help small companies transform ideas into commercial products — and they do it without taking equity. For a state building out its space and technology sectors, a conference that puts NASA, the Department of Energy, SpaceWERX and the SBA in the same room as local founders compresses months of outreach into a single day.

For Hawaii's small businesses and researchers, Nov. 6 in Kīhei is the date to lock in.