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- Field of View (FOV) - October 2024
Field of View (FOV) - October 2024
Early-Stage Aerospace & Defense Newsletter.
Approach Venture
November 04, 2024
Comprised of experienced startup operators and former DoD, Approach Venture was formed to enable founding teams building the future of frontier technology to achieve their full potential. Approach supports frontier technology startups with business development, proposal writing and recruiting as well as larger organizations with technology scouting, due diligence and market intelligence.
CONTACT APPROACH to learn more. Follow us on LINKEDIN.
EMERGING TRENDS
A&D ADVANCEMENTS RESHAPE DEMAND FOR TALENT.
Emerging trends in the A&D marketplace are reshaping the demand for specialized talent. Rapid advances in propulsion, AI, and autonomous technology have created a strong demand for skilled professionals. Startups can stay competitive by tapping into technical universities and research institutions, ensuring a robust talent pipeline to keep pace with these innovations. For professionals, certifications or advanced training in these fields position them well for roles in high-growth companies.
AI and autonomous tech are especially transformative, from autonomous drones to advanced defense solutions. Startups that offer mission-driven roles, competitive packages, and equity options are best positioned to attract top-tier AI and automation experts. Meanwhile, professionals with strengths in problem-solving and innovation are increasingly able to stand out as leaders in this field.
On the commercial side, trends in satellite communications and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) continue to open new opportunities. Companies need talent adept at balancing regulatory knowledge with the creative application of technologies for both government and commercial sectors. Professionals looking to maximize their impact in this space should focus on building versatile skills across these domains. Approach Venture is well-positioned to guide founders and professionals in navigating these evolving trends and securing the talent they need to excel.
In this dynamic landscape, securing the right talent is crucial—whether you’re a founder building a specialized team or a professional looking to join an innovative startup, Approach Venture can help you succeed.
OPEN TOPICS SERVE AS PROMISING PATH FOR SMB INNOVATION.
A recent GAO report, "Small Business Research Programs: Agencies Broadly Solicit Ideas, but Clearer Guidance Could Improve DOD Efforts", highlights the potential benefits of SBIR/STTR Open Topics to foster greater competition and innovation when soliciting solutions for problem areas. The report notes that in FY2022, 40% of all SBIR and STTR awards, totaling $1.8 billion, came from open topics, which attracted a wider range of applicants than conventional solicitations.
While the DoD has adopted some open topics to enhance innovation, the GAO found that some DoD components defined these topics too narrowly, resembling conventional topics and limiting the scope of proposals. To address this, the GAO recommends that the DoD clarify its guidance, ensuring that open topics remain broad and distinct from conventional ones. This would better support small businesses in proposing diverse solutions to meet defense needs.
Small businesses should anticipate a growing shift toward open topics across DoD agencies, allowing for broader technology pitches but also increasing competition due to a larger applicant pool. To stay competitive, companies will need to conduct more customer discovery to address problem spaces effectively. Building strong government relationships and demonstrating both technical and organizational maturity will be increasingly critical for success in these proposals.
FEATURED JOBS
PROPULSION ENGINEER: Venture-backed startup in Los Angeles. You'll design and develop breakthrough propulsion systems for ambitious space missions.
OPTICAL SYSTEMS ENGINEER: Successful startup driving innovations in optical technology that support critical space missions like proximity docking and Earth observation.
AVIONICS ENGINEER: Fast-growing, well-funded startup, pioneering the future of autonomous systems for space exploration. Design and optimize cutting-edge electrical systems that are critical to revolutionizing space-based automation and resource retrieval.
TRACKED OPPORTUNITIES
ACTIVE.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) released an RFI for Low-Cost Interceptors. The intent of this RFI is to identify innovative Missile Defense System technologies, architectures, concepts and CONOPS to decrease the costs of kinetically intercepting ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missile threats
Submission Deadline: November 15, 2024
The DoD SBIR 25.4 solicitation is active with topics spanning across Army, Navy, and OSD interests in electronic warfare, artificial intelligence, and more
Submission Deadline: November 20, 2024
DARPA Commercial Strategy launched the DARPA Venture Horizons RFI. Venture Horizons is an initiative to connect top-tier Family Offices, VCs, CVCs, and PE Firms with a select portion of DARPA’s portfolio, including DARPA PMs, and DARPA Research & Development performers to create game-changing outcomes for national and economic security
Submission Deadline: November 25, 2024
SSC’s NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 On-Ramp RFP is now active. Phase 3 Lane 1 on-ramps emerging providers on an annual basis to expand competition and strengthen the industrial base. These missions accept a higher risk to mission success to address specific mission needs
Submission Deadline: December 13, 2024
SSC’s National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 2 RFP remains open. The NSSL Phase 3 approach is to provide assured access to space for the integrated space architecture at affordable prices
Submission Deadline: December 15, 2024
UPCOMING.
The next AFWERX Direct to Phase II (D2P2) Open Topic window is planned to be released on February 5, 2025
The next PY25.2 TACFI Opportunity is anticipated to be announced in November 2024 with the submission window opening shortly thereafter
The next Orbital Prime solicitation to be released January 2025 - more to follow as its focus is announced publicly
VENTURE UPDATE: FUND ANNOUNCEMENTS
HQ: El Segundo, CA
Founded: 2024
Desired Fund I Size: $550mm
Lead / Stage Preference: Pre-Seed - Series B
Close Timing: TBD
Investment Thesis: Deep Tech
HQ: Greenwich, CT
Founded: 2019
Fund II Size: $72 million
Lead / Stage Preference: Pre-Seed - Series B
Close Timing: October 2024
Investment Thesis: Energy transition, defense tech, space, robotics & automation, AI and more
Prior Fund I Detail: $31.3mm Opportunities Fund
STARTUP RESOURCES
Driving Fundraising Success for Startups and Funds.
Fundraise Prep, Fractional CFO and Branding & Design
LYONSHARE is a leading strategic finance and fundraising agency that has helped startups and funds raise over $7 billion in capital. Their clients have raised from top-tier VCs like USV, RRE, and Greycroft, major institutions like Cambridge Associates and Brown, and strategics like Zoom, Estee Lauder, and Chegg. Lyonshare works with startups across a variety of industries, including space tech companies like ANTARIS. Lyonshare offers expertise in three core areas:
Fundraising Preparedness: investor deck content and design, pitch coaching, business planning, financial modeling, investor outreach strategy, diligence and dataroom prep, and select investor introductions
Fractional CFO: budgeting, financial forecasting, KPI tracking, liquidity optimization, and strategic transaction advisory
Branding & Design: brand identity development, pitch deck visual storytelling, brand positioning, and web design and development
Founder KELLY LYONS is an investor and entrepreneur who has built companies that have raised more than $10B in equity. Her prior employers include Morgan Stanley (investment banking), AIG (M&A + strategic planning), Golub Capital (new product formation and launch), Casa (President + CFO), Atlas Financial (Founder + CFO).
To learn more, please visit kellylyons.com. If you'd like to get in touch with the Lyonshare team, please fill out THIS FORM.
CMMC Compliance
PROBLEM.
Compliance and information security is a critical piece of your startup or small business. Failure to comply properly means losing out on business opportunities at the minimum or facing serious legal consequences. Your customers also pay for products to be made and protected with these guarantees.
But understanding the regulatory landscape and which boxes to check is a major challenge. Currently, service providers are geared toward working with larger enterprises and their offerings are priced accordingly. This makes compliance challenging for startups and small businesses to access and afford because the “one size fits all” approach is not easily tailored to your company’s true needs.
SOLUTION.
Swage compliance offers a cost-effective way for 1 – 50 person organizations to achieve CMMC compliance, proper IT controls, and information security with a lightweight, adaptable approach.
Work with your operations team to make sure your company processes include what’s needed + develop traceability
Work with your IT team or directly implement the controls necessary on the Microsoft 365 Admin Panel to work with your company processes
Develop tailoring on the rules to be bespoke to your company and give you controls and milestones where you will need to
Offer experience guiding companies through understanding, implementing, and recording the processes needed to become compliant. We are Registered Providers through the CMMC-AB to prepare you and your company for compliance exercises with C3PAOs.
SWAGE ADVANTAGE.
We are built to work with startups and cutting-edge companies, because that’s who we have worked with our entire careers.
Our team spans startups and enterprises, from design to compliance. We see the burdens and benefits of setting up proper information security. When we finished, we thought “this could have been easier”. With that experience we have created a process simplifying the set up and upkeep of information security to within a few weeks. Our goal is to use these to make compliance easier for you so you can stay focused on your mission.
Contact Swage to learn more: [email protected].
FOUNDER TIP
Mentioned in the AUGUST 2023 FOV NEWSLETTER and a common area of opportunity for first-time founders looking to raise venture dollars:
NAIL DOWN USES OF FUNDS BEFORE SHOPPING TO INVESTORS.
Stage-agnostic and before pitching your raise total to potential investors, it is imperative to determine and clearly outline where your Company’s fundraise dollars will be allocated once received. This also helps inform what your raise total should be based on cash needs in support of your respective product roadmap and near-term demo missions. Investors will have a difficult time getting to ‘yes’ and providing capital to a Company if the people they are investing in don’t have a detailed explanation of exactly where their money is going.
Building fundraise Uses of Funds is an excellent exercise for founders to conduct together. This tends to spur a deeper dive into actual vs. forecasted costs (contacting service providers and suppliers for quotes is a good call) and helps ensure management team alignment on spend priority and associated timing. The latter will help inform your Company’s cash runway and tentative timing around your next funding round which 10/10 comes up as part of DD (due diligence).
DID YOU KNOW?
AFWERX / SPACEWERX OPEN TOPIC PHASE I IS BECOMING LESS FREQUENT.
The next Open Topic Phase I solicitation will not take place until late 2025.
Startups not ready for a DoD Direct to Phase II pursuit will need to find new ways to fund and complete Phase I level work: i.e. raising private capital, identifying / pursuing Phase I opportunities with other branches, commercial customer funding for trade and feasibility studies, etc.