SubSignal / How it works

What SubSignal actually does

In one sentence: the US government hands out money three different ways, you qualify for all three with one registration, and almost nobody watches more than one. SubSignal watches all three and tells you which ones match what your company does.

The three signals

Signal 1Contracts already won A big company won a federal contract and is legally required to subcontract part of it to small businesses. You want to reach them before the plan is written. Signal 2Work about to be bought An agency has a need but hasn't written the solicitation yet. It's the only stage where what you say can still change what the contract asks for. Signal 3Grants you can win Money you don't pay back. Most federal grants are for states and universities; these are filtered to the ones companies can actually get.

Why these three belong together: a federal grant applicant and a federal contractor are the same registered entity — same SAM.gov registration, same UEI, renewed annually. If you're set up for one, you're already set up for all three. Most companies only ever watch one, which is the whole opportunity.

How it works, start to finish

  1. You tell us what you do and whereYour NAICS codes (the government's industry codes) and the states you can work in. That's the whole setup.
  2. We read the official sources every morningUSASpending.gov for awards, sam.gov for sources sought notices, grants.gov for grants. All public record, all free, no scraping of anything private.
  3. The noise gets thrown awayThis is the actual product. Two thirds of large awards carry no subcontracting obligation. Notices that have already closed are dropped. Roughly two thirds of federal grants are open only to states, tribes and universities. What's left is the part that applies to you.
  4. You get what matched your codesWith the reference number, the agency, the deadline, the prime's registered address and UEI, and the job title to ask for — the Small Business Liaison Officer, which every prime carrying a plan must have.
  5. You make contactYou send it, in your words. SubSignal never emails anyone on your behalf and never sells your details to anybody.

Before any of it works: stay registered

All three signals need the same thing — an active SAM.gov registration. It expires exactly 365 days after activation, and if it lapses you are ineligible for award, invisible to contracting officers, and unreachable by primes. SAM.gov's own guidance is to log in and check by hand, which is why people miss it.

The dashboard counts it down for you. Enter your expiry date once — it's on your SAM.gov entity record — and you get warnings from 90 days out. Free, no account, and the date is stored in your browser, never sent to us.

How we know a prime has to subcontract

We don't guess. Every federal award record carries the contracting officer's own determination in a field called subcontracting_plan. Codes C, D, F, G and H mean a small-business subcontracting plan is required or already in place. We read the flag. That's why about a third of large new awards make it through — the other two thirds are the noise every "big contract alerts" list still sends you. Full explanation here.

What it is not

It is not a bid-writing tool — it finds the opportunity, you write the response. It is not a guarantee of work; an award carrying a plan is an opportunity, and a posted notice or grant is a chance to compete. It is not affiliated with any government agency. And it never contacts a prime, an agency or a funder on your behalf.

Live right now: 160 awards carrying a subcontracting obligation, 739 open sources sought notices, 161 grants open to small businesses — all free to browse. See pricing for having your codes watched.