Snag a piece of $40M at first Air Force Pitch Day

January 22, 2019

The Air Force is looking to invest $40 million in startups and small businesses as part of its inaugural Air Force Pitch Day, March 6 in NYC.

And Air Force officials want a submission from YOUR startup.

“Mind-blowing ideas are being birthed in U.S. start-up companies, but the Pentagon largely misses out on them,” Dr. Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, said in a press release. “We have to do business at the speed of ideas so we can both inspire and accelerate start-up creativity towards national security challenges. The only way we’re going to do that is by making sure partnering with the Air Force is easy and energizing.”

The pitch day is part of a larger rapid contracting effort. It is designed as a fast-track program to put companies on one-page contracts and same-day awards with the swipe of a government credit card.

The opportunity affords small businesses access to the military market as well as non-dilutive capital, which is funding that does not require a company to share its ownership.

The event is modeled after commercial investment pitch competitions to deliver a faster, smarter approach to compete for ideas in the accelerating technology ecosystem. The process is a major departure from the lengthy contractual processes typically expected of the military.

Submissions are open to ideas furthering national security in air, space and cyberspace with a special emphasis on three areas:

— Command, control, communications, intelligence and network technologies
— Battlefield air operations family of systems technologies
— Digital technologies

Apply now – proposals and pitch decks will be accepted until Feb. 6.

The most promising candidates will be invited to pitch their ideas live to a team of Air Force experts, commercial investors, and defense partners for an opportunity to compete for an Air Force contract award up to $158,000.

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