How to Win DoW Funding

How to Win Non-Dilutive Defense Funding: SBIRs, STTRs, and Beyond

The Department of War awards billions each year in non-dilutive R&D funding to startups, but the landscape is opaque and the process is full of traps. This session is a practical map of the entire ecosystem: Air Force, Navy, and Army SBIR/STTR programs, TACFI/STRATFI and the new Strategic Breakthrough program, DIU, DARPA, In-Q-Tel, and APFIT — how each one actually works, what they pay, and how to win.

Michael Kunkler of Victoria Falls Technology has advised over 400 companies since 2018 on national security R&D funding, helping them secure more than $500 million in awards. He'll cover what separates the companies that turn a $75K Phase I into multi-million dollar contracts from the ones that stall out, including real case studies of both.