Event Being Held In New York Wednesday And Thursday

The Air Force has invited 59 small businesses and start-ups to pitch live at the first Air Force Pitch Day hosted in New York March 6 and 7.

Air Force contracting officials reviewed 417 submissions received during the 30-day application period. Submissions called for ideas furthering national security in air, space and cyberspace with a special emphasis on battlefield air operations technologies, digital technologies and command, control, communications, intelligence and network technologies.

The Air Force plans to invest up to $40 million through this Pitch Day as part of a larger rapid contracting effort. 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.

Air Force Pitch Day is designed as a fast-track program to put companies on one-page contracts with same-day awards via the swipe of a government credit card. The opportunity affords small businesses access to the defense market and non-dilutive capital, which is funding that does not require a company to share its ownership.

A full list of attending companies can be viewed in the related links section.

(Source: USAF news release)

FMI: www.af.mil