On July 23, 2026, the SBA announced its new Supply Chain Acceleration and Logistics Enablement (SCALE) program: about 20 grants of up to $500,000 each ($9M total) over a two-year period running Sept 30, 2026 to Sept 30, 2028. Priority sectors include advanced manufacturing, biotech/biomanufacturing, defense industrial base, energy and critical materials, food/ag, and logistics. The first round's application window closed August 7, 2026.
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SBA launches $9M SCALE grants for small-business supply chains
Why this matters for founders
Hardware, manufacturing, and biotech founders should get on SBA and grants.gov alerts now to be ready for the next SCALE cycle, and study the funded awardees as a map of priority supply-chain needs.
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