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IIRC to qualify for SIBR a startup must have annual revenue < $10M (?) which excludes larger vendors.

Anyway, a better wording may be "vendors in specific geographies with specialized skills".

The process is not as open as it appears. There is a strong bias for specialization.

Open a new "unrelated" subsidiary. Happens all the time.

I've found a couple of SBIR/STTR RFPs while I was responding to another question, and the ones I've found read:

Has, including its affiliates, not more than 500 employees and meets the other regulatory requirements found in 13 CFR 121.

That's from a DOE SBIR/STTR Phase I application.

hmm only less than 500 employees. Sounds legit.