DIU Commercialization Fellowship (DCF) Founder Presentations

Join us at Playground Global on Thursday, July 23 for an inside look at where 21 dual-use defense technology teams stand after 15 weeks of working alongside government stakeholders, experienced advisors, and real Mission Partners.
Each team will give a ten-minute presentation covering the full arc of their work — where they started, what they've learned, what they built, and where they're going next. We're inviting a small group of trusted voices from the defense innovation community to listen and share candid feedback. This isn't a pitch competition or a demo day — it's a genuine progress report from teams who have done serious work and are ready for an honest conversation about what comes next.
We're not asking you to evaluate for investment, though if a team catches your attention, we'd love to make that introduction.
Space is limited. We hope you'll join us.
If interested in meeting any of the teams, please email dcf@diu.mil.
FireFly Intel (FAU) — On-device, multi-sensor fusion layer for drones that flags multispectral decoys and shares intel over low-bandwidth tactical networks.
SwarmShield (Stanford) — Autonomous terminal-guidance stack for low-cost interceptor drones to defeat attack drones swarms.
OMNIA AI (UC Berkeley) — GUARD, an autonomous, sub-$1,000 kinetic system that detects and intercepts small explosive drones with no operator in the loop.
RapidRotor-AI (Purdue) — ML surrogate-modeling platform that replaces weeks-long, costly CFD runs with near-instant rotor/propeller aerodynamic predictions.
Marten (Stanford) — Delivering an AI intelligence platform for the U.S. Intelligence Community and DoW.
AGA (Agincourt Arsenal) (Stanford) — "Fletcher," a containerized, additive-manufacturing cell that produces drone warheads at the edge of the fight.
Downtrace (Stanford) — Sovereign edge-AI command console giving Special Forces ODAs offline AI decision support and doctrine reference in disconnected environments.
BreachON (UF) — Low-cost, expendable multi-modal lane-marking system for combat breaching, with real-time digital lane awareness to commanders.
KHARROS (UC Santa Cruz others) — Independent compliance-scoring and test-and-evaluation platform for vetting commercial autonomy before the government buys it.
BZRD Systems (Virginia Tech) — Passive, low-signature distributed RF sensor network that detects enemy drones without exposing soldier positions.
Parallax Defense Corp (UC Berkeley) — "Torrent," a water-based, AI-guided counter-UAS system using a high-pressure water stream as near-zero-cost ammunition.
Spectra (UC Berkeley) — ATAK middleware that translates EW sensor data into a simple, real-time threat map for the frontline soldier.
ENCOMPASS (UCSD) — Web-based R&D intelligence platform that surfaces and ranks emerging technologies against DoD mission needs.
Skyscan (USC) — Software-only ATAK plugin providing cryptographic drone identification friend-or-foe over the tactical mesh network.
OVERSEER (UF) — Data-augmentation and causal-inference layer that helps information-operations analysts measure operational impact faster.
ALPHA (Univ. of S. Mississippi) — Physics-informed ML system that screens ballistic armor materials computationally before costly physical testing.
ionX Technologies (Stanford) — AI-accelerated reagent selection to boost yield from U.S. rare-earth and critical-mineral processing with no new capex.
AI Route Planning (CMU) — ATAK plugin that auto-generates fast, safe, and concealed vehicle routes across complex terrain in seconds.
Tessellate (Stanford) — Simulator-to-field platform for developing, testing, and deploying adaptable multi-drone mission workflows.
Rare Earth Rescue (Univ. of Chicago) — First U.S. marketplace connecting end-of-life scrap supply with recyclers to build a domestic recycled rare-earth supply chain.
Operational & Strategic Networks (UMich) — An AI-powered digital wargaming platform modernizing military leadership training with analytics.