8 university teams chosen for accelerator program to further
develop cutting-edge solutions for national security needs
PALO
ALTO, Calif., June 20,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hacking for Defense® (H4D)
students' efforts to solve national security problems related to
challenges such as unmanned aircraft systems, autonomous space
operations and efficient use of satellites will continue this
summer with the help of H4XLabs, BMNT Inc.'s enterprise
accelerator.
Eight H4D teams from five universities were chosen to receive
post-course support, Ellen Chang,
H4XLabs director, announced.
Starting this week, the teams will work to further validate
their solutions, find product-market fit, land funding and turn
their H4D team into an investable company that can be a part of the
national security ecosystem. The teams will participate in a demo
day Aug. 15 to show their progress
and learning.
"This is a chance for these teams to take the work they did in
class to the next level, helping the country maintain its
competitive edge as they address critical challenges the Pentagon
faces," Chang said. "We hope the teams leave the program a step
closer to getting their solutions deployed and into the hands of
the warfighters who need them."
H4D is a global academic course, co-created by BMNT CEO
Pete Newell and sponsored by the
U.S. Department of Defense. It is offered at more than 62
universities and teaches teams of students how to use modern
entrepreneurial tools and processes to solve critical national
security problems at startup speed.
Of the more than 850 H4D student teams that have taken the
course since its inception in 2016, 7.3% or 62 formed companies.
Between them they have raised over $360
million in private funding. These include Capella Space,
leading provider of Earth observation data using synthetic aperture
radar; and enterprise training software company Learn to Win, which
recently secured $30 million in
Series A funding.
Teams were chosen based on several criteria including their
understanding of the problem and its importance, the feasibility of
their minimum viable product, possibilities for commercialization
of their solution and recommendations from their teaching teams,
Chang explained.
Teams selected are:
From Stanford University:
- House of Laws: Using Large Language Models to simplify
decision-making by contracting officers, program managers,
Congressional staffers and other government professionals
- L-Infinity: Improving satellite capacity by creating a
second price auction marketplace for satellite-to-consumer and
satellite-to-satellite tasking
- Juno Astrodynamics: Enabling autonomous dynamic space
operations including inspection, maintenance and refueling
- Spectra Labs: Electromagnetic mapping for unmanned
autonomous systems
From Columbia University:
- VALIS: Improving force readiness by creating a data
collection system and streamlined processes for visits to Human
Resources Command
From University of
Chicago:
- Pharos Aerospace: Helping government satellite operators
improve awareness of threats in low-earth orbit, whether they be
from adversaries or from lethal non-trackable space debris
From University of Southern
Mississippi:
- RAT Group: Standardizing training completion data to
ensure Airmen do not miss deployment-related training
From Rochester Institute of
Technology:
- CAMA: Countering software attacks in contested
environments to ensure reliable data transmission
About BMNT Inc.: BMNT is an innovation company for
governments and their partners that uses startup methods to create
new capabilities.
Contact: Terri S. Vanech,
203-918-1270 or 379394@email4pr.com
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SOURCE BMNT