The Catalyst Accelerator team was excited to welcome the companies back to Campus for the second session of the #CASDA2 cohort on April 16th! The companies were busy with outstanding programming sessions and opportunities to network at the Mix and Mingle Happy Hour Sponsored by Leonid.
A huge thank you to our Session 2 Sponsor, Maxar Intelligence. Their generous support empowers our team to deliver exceptional programming for the #CASDA2 cohort!
Programming began Tuesday morning with an insightful briefing from Special Agent Doug Kisby on the Air Force Office of Special Investigations National Security Detachment and how they are helping small businesses. Following this brief, Mo Kanwischer, President of Momentum Business Consulting, and Joseph Marney of Defy DESIGN walked the companies through the process of writing the script and building out the templates for their Demo Day videos! Keep an eye out for a future invitation to the #CASDA2 Demo Day on June 13th!
On Wednesday, The Honorable Sue Payton provided the cohort companies with an informative briefing on unclassified threats and their relevance to the companies’ positioning with the government. Later in the week, Lt Chandler Devaney spoke to the group about the 19th Space Defense Squadron and shared insights from his perspective as an operator in the Space Force. The team concluded the day with a cohort dinner, allowing the companies to further nurture their relationships.
The group enjoyed a Happy Hour on Thursday evening, that was generously sponsored by Leonid! There were about 50-60 attendees at the event and leaders from both Government and Industry had the chance to network with the cohort and build important connections. The cohort companies had the chance to introduce themselves to the attendees and give their ABC statements to kickoff the evening. Jack Ray, Senior Private Credit Associate, and Jefferson Chang, Vice President of Deals at Leonid also had the chance to speak to the attendees and shared about Leonid’s robust and unique offerings. Thank you for sponsoring the happy hour, Leonid team!
In total, the cohort heard from 23 subject matter experts during Week 5. Gregg Walsh, Regional Operations Manager at COLSA, briefed the group on COLSA and how the company collaborates with small businesses; Ellen McGeoch, Head of Contracting at NeuroFlow, spoke to the Accelerator on tips, tricks, and pitfalls of SBIRs and other funding sources; Lorna Gunning, Senior Procurement Counselor at the Colorado Procurement Technical Assistance Center, spoke to the companies about government agencies and how they might use the companies’ technologies; Doug Cameron, President of FSO Source, briefed the cohort on facility clearances; Aileen Berrios, Executive Vice President – Director of Business Solutions Group & Business Development at 5 Star Bank, spoke to the Accelerator about choosing the best bank for their companies; Shane Deichman, Senior Capture Manager, and Denise Schuh, Senior Capture Manager at Northrop Grumman briefed the companies and talked about how the cohort could engage; and Lt Col Faustman and Adrienne Miller talked to the Accelerator about the Space Warfighter Analysis Center and the Space Security Defense Program.
To conclude the week, the cohort companies engaged in a discussion with a Warfighter Panel comprised of Maj Jake Singleton, Capt Nicholas Herzer, Lt Haley Spolar, Lt Justin Healy, MSgt Bernie Torres, and Lt Chandler Devaney. Lt Devaney shared his thoughts about his time with the companies during the week, “My experience at Catalyst Campus alongside the SDA Cohort was extremely productive. I hold strong in my belief that to uphold our competitive advantage in the space domain, it is imperative to engage industry partners. Allowing them insight to an operational perspective provides them with invaluable knowledge to enhance their development of products and services. This collaborative approach should aid in solving the daunting challenges inherent to SDA operations.”
Thank you to each of the subject matter experts who donated their time to speak with the #CASDA2 cohort and answer their questions. The Catalyst Accelerator team is looking forward to week six with this incredible group of companies!
