Announcements
We are so excited to announce the closure of the 2023 NASA SBIR Ignite solicitation! Our team is now heads-down helping the NASA SBIR Ignite team coordinate the downselection: Awards should be live in December.
We are also very much looking forward to being at AUSA October 9-11, and the CONFERS 6th Annual Global Satellite Servicing Forum October 11-12. Let us know if you will be in the D.C. area, we would love to sync up.
Happy Hour Tuesday, October 10 · 5 - 7:30pm EDT - Sign up today!
AUVSI Announce Formation of a Defense Advocacy Committee
The Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) just announced the formation of a new Defense Advocacy Committee. This comes on the heels of AUVSI signing a collaboration Memorandum of Agreement with the Taiwan Drone Association on 14 September in Taipei and at and alongside the Taiwan Aerospace Expo.
Areas the committee will focus on include:
Work to champion the uncrewed systems industry and serve as a bridge across advocacy initiatives in the air, maritime, ground and cyber domains.
Areas of focus in support of the defense industrial base will include the NDAA, defense appropriations, acquisition reform, and cybersecurity requirements.
The Committee will also host discussions on challenges in interoperability, interchangeability, human-machine teaming and data strategy.
To join the committee, a request can be made here: https://www.auvsi.org/auvsi-defense-advocacy-committee
Thought Corner
Replicator - can we scale our manufacturing? Where will funding come from?
Will non-traditionals lean in along with venture to bet on the future (and reap rewards later)?
The U.S. Department of Defense recently unveiled an ambitious initiative aptly named Replicator, aimed at rapidly scaling capabilities in the face of strategic competition with the People’s Republic of China. Replicator’s first task will be to quickly scale and field thousands of attritable autonomous systems within the next 18 to 24 months, leveraging AI, robotics, and commercial technology. Kat Hicks announced the program at Defense News’ recent conference- and since then the blogosphere has been buzzing. Everyone is claiming association. Indopacom is swamped with requests to learn more.
Replicator’s goal is to integrate emerging technologies — and particularly those originating in the private sector — into the military’s operational framework. Indeed, even the name is inspired by a well known commercial company that’s instrumental to next generation defense technologies - nVida -it’s Omniverse Replicator. However, there is growing concern that the Department of Defense’s recent initiatives and existing processes may not be sufficient to meet the immediate challenges.
We think this is WHY we should depend on the commercial sector. New and innovative technologies can leverage a different culture (more risk taking, iterative learning, invest now reap rewards later) in order to accomplish the goals. There are several concepts that could meet the vision of Replicator, if DoD does NOT impose requirements that should only apply to exquisite systems. Replicator systems, afterall, are attritable (or that’s the vision anyways).
Stay tuned for more information here. Even if you do not build drones, technologies inspired by this initiative likely will apply, as it hits hard at the US’s manufacturing core. This then touches on all of H4XLabs’ initiatives and companies, given we are deep tech focused, which most often includes scaling hardware products.
Reference articles:
Funding Opportunities
Community Power Accelerator Round 2 - Submissions Due October 4th, 2023
$10M prize designed to fast-track efforts of new, emerging, and expanding solar developers. Fast-tracks the efforts of solar developers to learn and grow their operations to support multiple, successful community solar projects.
https://www.challenge.gov/?challenge=community-power-accelerator-prize-round-2
Tampa Bay Wave’s LatinTech Accelerator - Submissions Due October 6th, 2023
“At the heart of our mission, the LatinTech Accelerator is crafted for technology startups at the Pre-Seed to Series A stage, where Latino or Latina founders hold at least a 50% stake in ownership, control, and daily operations. This reflects our commitment to addressing the pronounced underrepresentation of Latino entrepreneurs in the tech sector.”
https://www.tampabaywave.org/latin-tech/
Defense Innovation Unit: DIU - Enterprise Test Vehicle solicitation - Submissions Due October 10th, 2023
“The Department of Defense seeks solutions to develop, demonstrate, and fly a modular open architecture vehicle that will accelerate capability development and fielding across all weapons programs by enabling the integration, testing, and qualification of different subsystems, capabilities, and materials. The objective is to demonstrate an aerial platform that prioritizes affordability and distributed mass production.”
Capable of demonstrating an initial flight test no later than 7 months after agreement award
Range of at least 500 nautical miles
Capable of delivering a kinetic payload
Minimum cruise speed of 100 knots
System architecture that allows for timely integration of commercially available components and subsystems (e.g., modular payloads, sensors, software-defined radios)
Able to demonstrate an air delivered variant (e.g., gravity dropped / launched from back of a cargo aircraft)
Capable of bulk transportation and employment in large quantities
This solicitation is open to U.S. and international vendors.
https://www.diu.mil/work-with-us/submit-solution/PROJ00507
Defense Innovation Unit: DIU - Base Resiliency and Climate Projection - Submissions Due October23rd, 2023
The DoD seeks commercial products that contextualize the above problem through the application of unique data sources, production grade models for climate projection modeling, and the necessary tooling to ingest, fuse and leverage pre-existing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data sources and models. The solution will also enable other U.S. government stakeholders to conduct risk analysis and long-term planning by considering future environmental factors. Additionally, it is important for solutions to provide sufficient resolution of data to support analyses and planning, integration of environmental and non-environmental data to support decision-making, and ensuring continuous delivery of quality, authoritative data that meet the needs and expectations of the user communities.
https://www.diu.mil/work-with-us/submit-solution/PROJ00514
American Made Challenges, Advanced Cybersecurity Technology (ACT) 1 Prize - Submissions Due November 13th, 2023, Registration Due October 30, 2023
Cyber threats pose a critical risk to the energy infrastructure that powers where we work, live, and play. Cyberattacks can impact utilities—both large and small—and cause costly consequences that range from financial impacts and supply shortages to electricity outages. The RMUC Program launched the ACT 1 Prize to help electric cooperative, municipal, and small investor-owned utilities protect against, detect, respond to, and recover from cybersecurity threats, and to increase their participation in cybersecurity threat information sharing programs. Utilities that progress through the competition will receive cash prizes and technical assistance to make meaningful, impactful investments in staff training, governance processes, and cybersecurity tools and technologies. These investments will result in a more secure and resilient energy grid.
Multilateral Autonomy (Department of the Navy, Palmetto Tech Bridge)- Submissions Due October 31st, 2023
How would you approach Autonomy if presented with three different challenges? The NIWC Atlantic Palmetto Tech Bridge (PTB) is seeking innovative technical approaches for 3 different problem statements. Participants can submit up to one technical approach per topic.
Different Problem Areas:
Computer Vision Surprise Challenge
Risky Facility Location Challenge
Multi-Sensor Fusion for Autonomous Driving (self-driving cars, aircraft, or watercraft)
https://www.challenge.gov/?challenge=multilateral-autonomy
DARPA Triage Challenge - Submissions Due November 13th, 2023
“The DARPA Triage Challenge (DTC) will use a series of challenge events to spur development of novel physiological features for medical triage. The DTC aims to drive breakthrough innovations in identification of “signatures” of injury that will help medical responders perform scalable, timely, and accurate triage. Of particular interest are mass casualty incidents (MCIs), in both civilian and military settings, when medical resources are limited relative to the need.”
https://triagechallenge.darpa.mil/
NASA Tournament Lab: NASA Seeks Solutions to Detect, Track, Clean Up Small Space Debris- Submissions Due November 15th, 2023
The objective of this challenge is to solicit concepts that offer effective methods for detecting, tracking, characterizing (size, shape, composition), and/or remediating small space debris ranging from 1 millimeter to 10 centimeters in size.
The challenge defines these four capabilities in the following way:
Detecting - the process of identifying and recognizing the presence of space debris, often using sensors and instruments to detect their existence in orbit.
Characterizing - the act of gathering detailed information about space debris, including size, shape, composition, and orbital parameters, to understand their properties and behavior.
Tracking - continuously monitoring the position, trajectory, and movement of space debris objects to predict their future paths and assess collision risks.
Remediating - remediation of debris is any action to reduce the risks associated with orbital debris by moving, removing, or reusing it.
The focus is on scalable solutions that can address a substantial percentage of the small debris population. Participants are encouraged to think creatively, considering technologies, orbits, and operations that may be less explored but have the potential for significant impact.
https://americanmadechallenges.org/challenges/act
SNIN, Central Florida Tech Grove, ONR, and NAWCTSD Instructional System Design (ISD) Analysis Using AI Large Language Models Challenge - Phase 1 submission deadline November 29, 2023
“The United States Armed Forces training requirements are needing to be developed faster with improved quality. The Navy’s Ready Relevant Learning (RRL) initiative has been chartered to architect modernized training. The Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division (NAWCTSD) analyzes, develops, and delivers RRL training products to the Navy. To achieve this, RRL has been using the Instructional Systems Design (ISD) Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) model. The focus of this challenge is on the “Analysis” collection of the data needed to move into the next phases of ADDIE.
To enable “Speed to the Fleet” this project will be “Proof of Concept” to determine if Artificial Intelligent (AI) tools such as large language models, like ChatGTP or similar, can accelerate the completion of the following ISD analysis products namely Task Analysis, Learning Analysis, and Media Selection reducing time, reducing cost, and improving quality.”
Our Events + Where Will H4XLabs Be?
October 5, 2023 at 12:00pm Pacific: Our friends at Mandala Space Ventures are hosting a webinar on "Space X: From a Garage Startup To Global Dominance" with Hans Koenigsmann. Register here!
October 19, 2023 at 8:00am Pacific: H4XLabs Zoominars: DIU’s Blueprint for Tech Collaboration: Navigating Defense Contracts - Register today - even if you can’t make it, we’ll send you the recording.
October 10th Networking & Happy Hour Event: Arlington, VA
Happy Hour Tuesday, October 10 · 5 - 7:30pm EDT - Sign up today!
Reflection on September 21 Zoominar: Legal Considerations in Fundraising and Financing Trends
On September 21, H4XLabs hosted a Zoominar exploring the legal considerations in fundraising and financing trends. Featuring Kenji Funahashi of Wilson Sonsini and Christoper Kong of PaperJet Ventures, the session explored various aspects of fundraising, including terms of investment, the latest financing trends and valuations, and the differences between pre-seed, seed, and series A financings. Featuring both a lawyer and an investor allowed for a richer conversation than otherwise would have been possible. Chris discussed interesting trends over the last few years, emphasizing how pre-seed investing looks likely to stabilize after recent declines and how the decline hit different industries differently. Meanwhile, Kenhji gave a crash course in preparing one’s company for fundraising. He highlighted the importance of securing capitalization, protecting intellectual property, insurance and regulatory considerations–and more. The stabilization of pre-seed investing is really important to us and our portfolio companies - the inability to receive funding has forced companies to go into “hibernation mode.”
The panel brought together more than 50 participants, including many co-founders of tech startups. Participant questions spanned a wide range of topics, including the changing legal dynamics of fundraising in different capital environments; shifts in the geographic locations, or ecosystems, of where startups are finding funding opportunities; and how or if startups should approach valuations before speaking with VC firms. Ultimately, both Kenji and Chris concluded that despite a relative improvement in market conditions, startups should factor in a longer timeline for fundraising and should prioritize capital efficiency to best protect oneself in changing market conditions.