The National Science Foundation (NSF) has supported diversity and small business initiatives for a long time. According to their website, “The National Science Foundation (NSF) Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU) helps increase contract and subcontract awards to small and disadvantaged businesses, and identifies potential businesses to support the NSF.”
The focus of the organization is to award grants and contracts to those organizations in line with their mission. They are a government agency that supports the non-medical fields of STEM. "The National Science Foundation (NSF) awards nearly $190 million annually to startups and small businesses through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact.“
Although that number is high, I would personally like to see the $190 million allocated to small businesses increase. The total budget of the NSF is around $7 billion and I think an even greater impact can be had if 10% of its budget (or $700 million) went to smaller firms.
