The Catalyst Accelerator team was excited to travel with the #CAAML cohort to College Park, Maryland for the fifth week of their Accelerator journey! The week was packed with outstanding programming sessions and opportunities to make important connections with subject matter experts and other leaders in Government, Industry, and Defense.
In total, the group had the pleasure of hearing from sixteen subject matter experts during their time in the D.C. area. One of these experts included Dr. Luis Rodriguez (LJ), the U.S. Navy’s PEO IWS S&T Liaison, who explained the role that the PEO-Integrated Warfare Systems plays in national security. LJ and his team also presented on the PEO-IWS SBIR processes and how small businesses can benefit. Tuesday’s sessions ended with an engaging use case presented by LJ and his team.
On Wednesday, programming began with Lawrence Nunn, CEO of Cyberspatial and Accelerator alum, who shared some of his experiences from the Accelerator program. He explained the importance of taking every possible opportunity to follow up with the connections made in the program and take full advantage of the resources provided. Later, the Luminint Executive Team delivered a fascinating presentation on reputation due diligence and Michael Feng spoke to the cohort about AFRL/RI and the ways that small businesses can get involved. Additionally, COL Shane Taylor, Assistant Deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management for the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology), along with several visitors from the JADC2 branch, spoke to and met with the companies. Wednesday concluded with a fun cohort dinner at Burton’s Grill!
Mo Kanwischer of Momentum Business Consulting opened the sessions on Thursday with a fantastic presentation on business development, marketing, and QIP-B. Afterwards, the Accelerator team hosted Vincent Thiele and Rohintan Patel who presented a Navy PEO-Unmanned and Small Combatants overview. Several representatives from PEO-Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons were also present during this overview. The cohort thoroughly enjoyed discussing areas of opportunity with the speakers and getting some answers to their questions. Programming ended on Thursday with a session on creative government contracting presented by Gary White, the Founder of Mapportunity.
Later that evening, a small Happy Hour event was held at the Catalyst Campus location in College Park, Maryland. The event was intimate, but the companies were able to make a handful of pertinent connections and enjoy some refreshments after a day of programming sessions.
The week wrapped up with Major Bernard Tumanjong and Mr. Connor Fernandez, on behalf of the United State Space Force (USSF) HQ, who discussed AI/ML capabilities and the future of space tech. Additionally, the group heard from representatives from Perkins Cole who spoke about how to position yourself for investment and Dr. Harry Dreany who briefed the group on AI/ML regarding the Marine Corp Warfighting Lab. Stuart Daughtridge, Vice President of Advanced Technology and Business Development at Kratos and the Commercial Navigator for R-DEX Systems, brought the sessions to a close by presenting a Kratos overview and sharing some ways the cohort companies can get involved. After meeting with each company in one-on-ones, Stuart expressed, “It was great meeting with the Catalyst Accelerator companies. The diversity of this cohort and depth of their capabilities is truly impressive!”
Thank you to each of the subject matter experts who donated their time to speak with the #CAAML cohort and answer their questions. The Catalyst Accelerator team is looking forward to the next on-week with this incredible group!
