Based on data from Chinese A-share SME Board and GEM listed firms between 2007 and 2023, this paper employs the sci-tech finance pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment to systematically examine its empowering effects, underlying mechanisms, and structural logic on disruptive technological innovation. The findings are as follows: First, the sci-tech finance policy significantly enhances both high-end and low-end disruptive technological innovation in firms, while its effect on incremental innovation is insignificant. This indicates that the policy exhibits a clear preference for breakthrough technologies and features risk-screening characteristics, with the primary mechanisms being the alleviation of corporate financial frictions, the cultivation of patient capital, and the compensation for positive externalities of innovation. Second, after extending the sample to non-high-tech enterprises, the triple-difference estimates reveal that the policy effect on high-tech enterprises is significantly stronger than on non-high-tech enterprises, primarily attributable to the dual advantages of targeted policy support and firms’ absorptive capacity.Third, heterogeneity analysis shows that the policy effect is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, industries with rapid technology iteration cycles, regions with strong local government support, and areas with robust intellectual property protection, reflecting distinct dependencies on ownership structure, industry characteristics, and regional institutional environments. The findings of this study reveal that sci-tech finance policies function as a corrective mechanism embedded within specific institutional environments and resource misallocation structures, rather than as a mere financial supply instrument. This discovery provides a crucial theoretical foundation and policy implications for deepening reforms in the sci-tech finance system and optimizing support frameworks for disruptive innovation.