COLLABORATION & THE INNOVATIVE INDUSTRIAL BASE
XTECHPRIME TEAMS INTEGRATORS
As the U.S. Army’s premier prize competition, the xTech Program enables small businesses to compete for cash prizes that are nondilutive—enabling financing where the business does not lose any equity—with some compe- titions also awarding SBIR contracts to accelerate and transition winners’ transformative technology solutions to the Army.
As one of Under Secretary Camarillo’s new initiatives, the xTechPrime competition builds on the existing program by providing greater resources and opportunities to small businesses. Launched in April, it challenges nontradi- tional vendors to team with technology integrators to submit their innovative solutions that contribute to the Army’s current modernization goals while supporting a resilient industrial base.
Small businesses can showcase their innovative tech- nology solutions, with the potential to receive significant funding through the Army’s $28.5 million investment. Meanwhile, technology integrators provide expertise and resources to scale up technologies through continued collaboration with small businesses as they integrate their solutions into the Army ecosystem.
“XTechPrime empowers small businesses and technology integrators to partner as teams and accelerate the tran- sition of novel and often overlooked ideas by leveraging the resources of technology integrators,” said Matthew Willis, Ph.D., director of Army Prize Competitions and the Army Applied SBIR Program. “It is important that we support these relationships to address innovation chal- lenges within the Army and across industry.”
XTechPrime is an open-topic competition that accepts proposals for a variety of concepts. However, it priori- tized solutions within artificial intelligence and machine learning; autonomy; climate and clean technologies; immersive and wearables; and sensors.
As a result, a panel of Army experts selected 50 partic- ipants—who submitted white papers aligning with
these focus areas—to move forward and partake in a networking forum at the August Fed Supernova defense innovation event in Austin, Texas. Alongside this oppor- tunity and the Army’s total investment of $28.5 million, semifinalists received $5,000; continue to compete for $40,000 in nondilutive cash prizes; and, for the winners, have the potential for $1.9 million in Direct to Phase II SBIR contract awards.
Throughout each round, judges will provide feedback to participants to help accelerate the transition of technolo- gies to Army users. The panel of experts will offer insight on the best applications for the technologies, sugges- tions for product improvements for Army use and the next steps for development.
“This competition plays a key role in the under secre- tary’s strategic initiatives,” Willis said. “It capitalizes on xTech’s proven competition model while supporting industry and the potential integration of scalable, Soldier- driven solutions.”
XTechPrime is the first prize competition since the program’s launch in 2018 to focus on partnerships between small businesses and technology integrators, with incentives for each participating group.
While the format of xTechPrime deviates from the standard xTech model with the addition of the small business and technology integrator teaming, a critical xTech component remains constant across all competi- tions—xTech’s dedication to providing not only financial gains but also feedback, mentorship and networking from Army experts.
For information on the xTech Program and other upcoming competitions, go to
www.xtech.army.mil.
https://asc.ar my.mil
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