# Grant Funding Signals — NIH & NSF Awards as Leads (`opensignals/grant-funding-signals`) Actor

Freshly funded organizations as B2B leads. Official NIH RePORTER & NSF Awards APIs (no keys): SBIR/STTR small-business filter, amounts, programs, PI names — NSF records include PI email and org phone. Hiring cross-check over 7 ATS, 0-100 score, watch mode, CSV-ready.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/opensignals/grant-funding-signals.md
- **Developed by:** [Andrey](https://apify.com/opensignals) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Automation, News
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per event

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## Grant Funding Signals — NIH & NSF Awards as B2B Leads

*Grant scraper & SBIR lead finder — NIH RePORTER and NSF awards as B2B leads with PI emails, organization phones and small-business funding.*

**A federal grant is non-dilutive money in the bank** — and SBIR/STTR awards go to **small companies by law**. A startup that just landed an SBIR grant has confirmed budget and a delivery deadline: it will hire, buy equipment, rent lab space and contract services. This Actor reads the official **NIH RePORTER** and **NSF Awards** APIs (no keys, no scraping) and emits scored lead records.

### What makes these leads different

- **`pi_email` + `org_phone`** 🔥 — NSF publishes the principal investigator's email and the organization's phone in the award record. Direct outreach channel included.
- **`sbirOnly` filter** (default ON) — keeps only SBIR/STTR awards: funded *companies*, not universities.
- **`grant_score` 0–100** — freshness + amount + SBIR + contact availability + named PI.
- **`hiring_check` + `composite_intent_score`** 🔥 — probes 7 ATS job boards: grant money AND hiring = scaling right now.
- **`alert_text`** — ready-to-send Slack/Telegram line.
- Watch mode, `flat_leads` CSV output, `market_summary` per run.

### Who buys this data

- **Lab equipment, scientific software, CRO/CDMO services:** SBIR biotech companies must spend the grant on exactly what you sell
- **Grant-writing & compliance consultants:** Phase I winners need Phase II applications; all winners need compliance reporting
- **Recruiters:** grant-funded companies hire researchers on a deadline
- **Banks & startup services:** non-dilutive-funded startups are low-risk clients
- **BD teams in research services:** filter by keywords (`diagnostics`, `AI`, `battery`) to your vertical

### Typical setup

`sbirOnly: true`, `daysBack: 14`, your `keywords`, schedule weekly, `outputMode: flat_leads` → CSV of freshly funded companies with PI emails into Google Sheets.

### Honest limitations

- NIH records don't include emails (NSF does) — NIH leads carry PI name + org + official project URL.
- SBIR.gov's own API is gated; NIH+NSF cover the two biggest grant agencies. DOE/DOD SBIR — on the roadmap via USASpending grants (see our Government Contract Signals Actor).

**Something broken?** Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab — I respond within 1–2 business days.

***

*Part of the opensignals intent suite: [ATS Hiring Signals](https://apify.com/opensignals/ats-hiring-signals) · [Startup Funding Signals](https://apify.com/opensignals/startup-funding-signals) · [Government Contract Signals](https://apify.com/opensignals/gov-contract-signals) · [Clinical Trial Signals](https://apify.com/opensignals/clinical-trial-signals) · [Press Release Signals](https://apify.com/opensignals/press-release-signals).*

# Actor input Schema

## `sources` (type: `array`):

NIH RePORTER and/or NSF Awards — both official, no API keys.

## `daysBack` (type: `integer`):

Awards noticed within the last N days (max 120).

## `sbirOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Keep only SBIR/STTR awards — they go to small businesses by law: funded startups, not universities.

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Search terms over titles/abstracts, e.g. `AI`, `diagnostics`, `battery`.

## `minAmount` (type: `integer`):

Skip awards below this amount.

## `stateFilter` (type: `array`):

Two-letter state codes, e.g. `CA`, `MA`.

## `requireContact` (type: `boolean`):

Keep only records with a PI email or organization phone (NSF publishes both).

## `onlyNewGrants` (type: `boolean`):

Remember seen awards, output only NEW ones. Schedule weekly for an alert feed.

## `checkHiring` (type: `boolean`):

Probe 7 ATS job boards for grantees: grant money AND hiring = hottest lead.

## `checkHiringTop` (type: `integer`):

How many top grantees to probe.

## `maxGrants` (type: `integer`):

Cap on awards fetched.

## `outputMode` (type: `string`):

`signals` = full records. `flat_leads` = one flat row per award for CSV/Sheets/CRM.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "sources": [
    "nih",
    "nsf"
  ],
  "daysBack": 21,
  "sbirOnly": true,
  "keywords": [],
  "minAmount": 0,
  "stateFilter": [],
  "requireContact": false,
  "onlyNewGrants": false,
  "checkHiring": true,
  "checkHiringTop": 40,
  "maxGrants": 300,
  "outputMode": "signals"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `grants` (type: `string`):

No description

## `allResults` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("opensignals/grant-funding-signals").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("opensignals/grant-funding-signals").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call opensignals/grant-funding-signals --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,opensignals/grant-funding-signals"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/cpq0rCprWYVdvbdan/builds/Meigqb0DIWMjQKZ2Y/openapi.json