TandemNSI, the public-private
partnership that links private-sector companies interested in national security with government agencies, is holding a reverse-pitch Deal Day May 7 and adding a program in which local entrepreneurship experts will advise its curated network of government agencies and founders/innovators.
On
Deal Day, in addition to panels about trends in the industry and advice from entrepreneurs who have successfully navigated the national security waters, five agencies will pitch their projects to the companies gathered, detailing exactly what sort of collaboration they are looking for.
Jennifer Ives, director of innovation for the organization, says there's still plenty of room for cutting-edge startups at the event.
"We want to make sure there are innovators in the crowd," Ives says. Specifically, companies focused on cybersecurity, additive manufacturing (3-D printing), robotics, geospatial engineering and data analytics should find projects that fit their expertise.
Meanwhile, the Venture Advisors program kicks off May 5. It will give its network of entrepreneurs access to the wisdom of entrepreneurs
John Casey,
Alex Murphy,
Minh Nguyen, and
Bob Smith, who will help interested private-sector companies "grow new lines of business" to serve government agencies such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL), among others.
Says Ives: "Our advisors will lend expertise so these companies can ramp up quickly."