The Catalyst Accelerator team successfully wrapped up the second session of the #CASJS cohort, marking the program’s halfway point! The week was packed with insightful presentations and engaging discussions between participating companies and subject matter experts.
The week kicked off Monday morning with Joe Marney, Owner of Defy Design, who guided the companies on preparing their Demo Day videos. As the creator of each company’s video, Joe works closely with them throughout the process—recording, editing, and providing valuable feedback. Later that day, some cohort members attended the Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium in Aurora, Colorado, to expand their networks and explore potential customer opportunities.
On Tuesday, the cohort met to discuss their mid-Accelerator expectations, ensuring they were on track with their program goals. Following this, they met with Mo Kanwischer, President of Momentum Business Consulting, for a key discussion on business development, marketing, and QIP-B. The day’s presentations ended with Russ Long, Founder and CEO of Long Capture, who provided insights on SBIRs.
Wednesday began with a visit to the Joint Commercial Operations Cell (JCO) and Defense Readiness Agile Gaming Online Network (DRAGON) Army. Capt Rishi Patel and Patrick Kitchens provided an overview of JCO’s role. The JCO provides the space defense enterprise with timely and accurate collection, analysis, and warning of potential counterspace activity, leveraging industry and allied capabilities at the NOT CLASSIFIED level to enable maximum distribution and collaboration in support of operational and strategic objectives.DRAGON Army Operations is an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) program that aims to break down paradigms seen in legacy space operations and system development to drive cooperative space domain awareness across the Department of Defense, commercial, academic and allied partners.
The day continued with an unclassified threats briefing from the Honorable Sue Payton, Owner of SCI Aerospace, Inc. The final presentation featured LT Cristian Montelongo from the 37th Detachment, under Mission Delta 3 – Electromagnetic Warfare. To conclude this productive day, the team gathered for a dinner at TRAINWRECK, strengthening their connections in a more relaxed setting.q
Thursday’s programming featured a presentation by Tom Kading, Patent Attorney, and Sebastian Ertelt, Patent Director, from Fargo Patent Law. Their discussion provided valuable insights into intellectual property considerations for the companies. Later, Sean Ordorica, Electronic Warfare Training Specialist with the U.S. Army, led an engaging discussion on missions, challenges, and successes in electronic warfare.
Karri Palmetier, Founding Member of Palmeteir Law, shared her insights from working with the cohort this session. “The companies in this Space-Based Joint Spectrum (#CASJS) cohort with the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Army embraced the need to understand the government right’s to technology. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about their technology in advanced Electromagnetic Warfare (EW), Satellite Communications (SATCOM), along with supporting Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) capabilities and discussing strategies for protecting it. The creativeness, enthusiasm, and energy of these companies is the best part of the Accelerator program.”
A huge thank you to the subject matter experts who generously shared their time and expertise with the #CASJS cohort, answering questions and providing critical guidance. The Catalyst Accelerator team looks forward to the next session with this outstanding group of companies on Tuesday, March 25th!
