xTechSearch, the U.S. Army’s prize competition will award and accelerate innovative technology solutions that seek to deliver advanced capabilities to the warfighter
Arlington, VA. May 4, 2021- FedTech, a national leader in building breakthrough technology ventures at the intersection of federal technologies & U.S. entrepreneurship, will launch the Army’s xTechSearch 5 Accelerator for the U.S. Army. This Accelerator will rapidly transition 10 innovative technologies from across the U.S. and feature high-profile mentors from all corners of the U.S. advanced technology development ecosystem. The xTech 5 Accelerator ramps up the xTechSearch finalists in order to prepare their technologies for transition to the warfighter, while also entering their technology into other commercialization pipelines.
The xTech 5 Accelerator, powered by FedTech, will consist of 10 finalist companies from the xTechSearch competition. The xTechSearch prize competition, known as “The Original Army Technology Innovation Competition” is a biannual $2 million prize pool sponsored by the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASA(ALT)), targeting small businesses and nontraditional companies to uncover novel dual-use science and technology solutions. FedTech designs, builds, and runs a 6-month custom accelerator for xTechSearch finalists. Through the Accelerator, finalists receive custom educational experiences, diverse mentorship, and high-touch consulting by FedTech experts on business tactics and strategic messaging for breakthrough technology startups. Since the launch of the program, the portfolio companies have won over $14.4 million in Department of Defense (DoD) contracts and applied to over $48.2 million in contracts.
These 10 finalists will receive access to 30+ custom educational experiences built around the Army as a partner, diverse mentorship hand-picked by the Accelerator leadership, invite-only exposure events to the greater U.S. ecosystem surrounding DoD-focused startups, and high-touch consulting by FedTech experts on business tactics and strategic messaging.
“'The xTech 5 Accelerator represents our novel approach to growing an incredibly diverse set of deep tech small businesses in the U.S. - within this cohort, we're working with companies ranging from two to 75 employees in size, and across technology verticals such as biotech, quantum, artificial intelligence (AI), human-machine-interfacing, and communications.'” shares Will Dickson, Director at FedTech and the Accelerators Program Lead. “The xTech 5 Accelerator showcases a powerful story of one of the largest organizations on the planet, the U.S. Army, pivoting to adapt to modern technology development trends.”
To get involved with FedTech Accelerators as a mentor, investor, partner, or see full program details, please visit our website at www.fedtech.io/xtech-accelerator. For press inquiries, please contact Vic Vaswani, Head of Growth, at vic.vaswani@fedtech.io.
About FedTech:
FedTech is a venture builder that thrives at the intersection of entrepreneurship, breakthrough technologies, and mission-driven organizations. Since 2015, FedTech has pioneered deep tech ventures across the Department of Defense, NASA, Department of Energy, universities, and federal labs. Through startup studios, accelerators, internal innovation curriculum, and corporate venture programs, FedTech helps startups, Fortune 500 companies, and government agencies stay ahead of the curve of innovation.
Gunnar Gillespie
Senior Analyst, FedTech