How to Find Federal Contract Opportunities: A Guide for Software Startups

2026-10-09#saas #federal-market

By Philip Luca — Founder of GovExpress; prior domain experience at Bloomberg Government and GovWin IQ.

Most software startups start their federal search the same way: they open SAM.gov, type in a keyword, and scroll through hundreds of notices that have nothing to do with their product. A few weeks later they conclude that the government doesn’t buy what they sell.

Usually it does. The problem is where they looked and when. Many federal software purchases never appear as a public notice. The ones that do are often shaped months earlier, by vendors who were already talking to the buyer. This guide covers where opportunities are posted, where the rest of the buying happens, and how to find the right buyers before a solicitation goes out.

Start with SAM.gov Contract Opportunities

SAM.gov is the government’s official point of entry for publicizing contract actions. Under FAR Part 5, agencies generally have to post contract actions expected to exceed $25,000 there, with exceptions. It’s free to search, and you don’t need to be registered to browse.

A few habits make it far more useful:

Search by code, not just keyword. Filter by NAICS codes such as 541511 and 541512 and by product service codes for IT and software. Keywords miss notices written in agency language. Our guide to NAICS codes for software companies covers which codes to watch.
Read the notice type. A presolicitation or sources sought notice means the requirement is still taking shape. A solicitation or combined synopsis/solicitation means the clock is running. An award notice tells you who received the award, which is useful for the next cycle.
Save your searches. Signed-in users can save a search and get email notifications when new notices match it, which beats checking by hand.
Filter by set-aside. If you qualify for a small business set-aside, filtering on it narrows the field to competitions you can actually enter.

Sources sought notices and RFIs are the most underused part of SAM.gov. Answering one costs a few hours and can shape whether the eventual requirement is written so that a commercial product like yours can win it.

Where the rest of the buying happens

A lot of federal software never shows up as a public SAM.gov notice, because it’s bought through vehicles that already exist.

Orders under existing contracts. Agencies place task orders and delivery orders against IDIQ contracts and governmentwide vehicles such as a GWAC or SEWP. Those competitions often go only to the vehicle’s holders.
GSA eBuy. Agencies buying from the GSA Schedule can post requests for quotes on eBuy, which only Schedule holders can see and answer.
Blanket purchase agreements. Repeat purchases often run through a BPA set up once and ordered against for years.

If you don’t hold the vehicle, you reach these buyers through a reseller or prime that does. Our guides to contract vehicles and teaming and subcontracting cover those routes.

Look ahead, not just at today’s notices

By the time a solicitation posts, the buyer has usually done its market research. These sources show you what’s coming.

Agency procurement forecasts. Many agencies publish forecasts of planned purchases, and GSA’s Acquisition Gateway hosts a forecast tool that brings many of them together in one place.
Award history. USAspending.gov shows who each agency has bought from, for how much, and when each contract’s period of performance ends. A contract ending in the next year is a recompete you can prepare for now.
Agency small business offices. Most agencies have an Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization that holds vendor outreach sessions and can point you to the right program office.
Industry days. Agencies hold industry days and vendor briefings ahead of larger buys, and they’re usually announced on SAM.gov as special notices.

Other places startups should watch

SBIR and STTR topics. Agencies publish research topics on their own cycles, and the Department of War posts its topics through its own SBIR portal. For a startup with new technology, an SBIR award can be the first federal contract. See our SBIR and STTR guide.
Other transactions. Many OTA awards are run through consortia that announce opportunities to their members. Our guide to other transaction authority explains how they work.
Subcontracting. Large primes post subcontracting opportunities on SBA’s SubNet, and many run supplier portals of their own.
Free help. APEX Accelerators, funded through the Department of War, give free counseling on finding and bidding opportunities.

One common mistake: Grants.gov lists grants, not contracts. Unless you’re pursuing research funding, that isn’t where software is bought.

Check that you can actually bid

Finding an opportunity is only useful if you can compete for it. Before you chase a notice, check the basics:

An active SAM.gov registration with a UEI, and a CAGE code where required.
The security requirements in the notice. Cloud products may need FedRAMP authorization or an agency ATO, and Department of War work involving CUI can bring CMMC requirements. What a company says about itself is self-attested. Buyers increasingly look for an assessment or authorization they can verify.
Past performance. If you don’t have federal work yet, our guide to past performance for software companies covers how to use commercial references.

Find the buyers first

Opportunity alerts tell you what’s posted today. It’s just as useful to know which agencies spend the most in your category and which buyers your security authorization lets you sell to now. The free GovExpress Target Finder shows that from public USAspending data. To see how ready your company looks to federal buyers, score your company’s federal readiness.

The CMMC brief

What the Phase 2 suspension changed and what it did not — the obligations that still bind, the assessment path a contract puts you on, the scoping decision that drives the cost, and the sequence that fits inside a pipeline. Sourced from the primary record.