Candor

What do they actually do

Candor is a web app that helps startups and small contractors find U.S. government funding opportunities (SBIR/STTR and DoD solicitations) and draft compliant proposals faster with AI. The product includes an AI search/recommendation engine for solicitations, a proposal editor with an AI copilot that writes sections from uploaded company materials and templates, and automated compliance checks with a red‑team style review source.

Users upload prior proposals, slides, resumes, and IP docs so the AI has context. Candor then surfaces relevant opportunities from sources like SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and DSIP; for a chosen solicitation, it drafts sections, checks page limits and requirements, and flags gaps against evaluation criteria. The platform stores past applications in private, isolated storage and says user data is not used to train external LLMs source. Primary users are early‑stage defense/deeptech/biotech startups and the grant consultants who support them source.

Live today: a solicitation feed UI, proposal editor with AI assistant, compliance matrix/scoring, secure document shelf, and email notifications for new opportunities source.

Who are their target customer(s)

• First‑time deeptech/defense/biotech founders pursuing SBIR/STTR: They struggle to map their tech to the right solicitations and to interpret formats and evaluation criteria, making proposals slow and error‑prone.
• Solo technical founders with limited proposal bandwidth: They can build the product but not a polished, compliant application; writing consumes weeks they don’t have.
• Small contractors/startups reliant on SBIR/STTR or DoD topics: Opportunity discovery across SAM.gov/Grants.gov/DSIP is manual, and requirements vary by agency, causing missed or wasted efforts.
• Independent grant consultants and proposal writers: They repeat high‑effort drafting and compliance checks for each submission and can’t scale without automation.
• University research groups and tech‑transfer teams: They have technical strength but lack templates and scoring insight to convert research into competitive, compliant applications efficiently.

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Leverage YC, founder networks, and defense/deeptech contacts for 1:1 demos and free pilots on a single submission; assign a founder/PM to tailor templates and convert pilots into paid accounts with case studies.
• First 50: Run paid workshops and joint webinars with consultants, university TTOs, and startup programs; offer timed pilot discounts or consultant revenue‑share, then convert attendees via email drips, template packs, and a light onboarding playbook.
• First 100: Add partnerships with top consultants/incubators, sponsor key conferences/cohorts, and start targeted SDR outreach to SBIR/DoD founders and small contractors; make onboarding self‑serve, launch referral incentives, and publish case studies plus an ROI calculator.

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

SBIR/STTR obligations were about $4.12B in FY2022, with thousands of awards annually [source](https://www.sbir.gov/sites/default/files/SBA_FY22_SBIR_STTR_Annual_Report.pdf; https://www.sbir.gov/awards). The U.S. grant‑management software market is estimated around $792M in 2024, with global estimates near $3.1B in 2025 [source](https://www.grandviewresearch.com/horizon/outlook/grant-management-software-market/united-states; https://www.precedenceresearch.com/grant-management-software-market).

Bottom-up calculation:

A practical near‑term TAM: sell to ~4,000 distinct SBIR/STTR recipient organizations plus ~1,000 active consultants; at $3k–$8k ARR per account, TAM ≈ $15M–$40M annually source. Longer‑run expansion into federal R&D/procurement widens the pool (federal R&D ≈ $186B in FY2023) but requires broader product/GTM source.

Assumptions:

• ~4,000 recent SBIR/STTR recipient orgs represent active potential buyers; ~1,000 consultants serve this market.
• Average contract value per account ranges from $3k–$8k ARR depending on seats and features.
• Focus is SBIR/DoD‑centric buyers initially; broader agency coverage increases TAM over time.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• OpenGrants: Uses AI/RAG for grant discovery and application drafting, including SBIR content—overlaps directly on automated discovery and AI‑assisted proposal writing [source](https://opengrants.io/small-business-innovation-research-sbir-grants/; https://open-grants.com/).
• Deltek (GovWin): Incumbent government contracting intelligence and capture tooling; strong on solicitation discovery and increasingly on proposal automation, aimed at larger contractors source.
• BidNet / BidNet Direct: Aggregates and normalizes public RFP/solicitation feeds; competes on discovery inbox but lacks SBIR‑specific AI drafting/compliance workflow source.
• DeepRFP (and similar AI tender tools): Generative AI for RFP responses and compliance matrices; overlaps on drafting and compliance but is oriented to commercial tenders vs. SBIR specifics [source](https://deeprfp.com/; https://bidwritegpt.com/).
• Instrumentl: Grant discovery/management for nonprofits with added AI drafting and storage; less focused on federal SBIR/DoD workflows but similar match‑plus‑draft approach source.