Defense Tech and Dual Use Conference

​Defense Tech is a mission-driven summit designed for founders building with purpose, and for the government and investors who support them.

​Our goals are to:

1. ​Highlight early- and growth-stage defense tech/dual-use startups.

2. ​Foster public-private collaboration.

3. ​Equip founders with the insights, access, and community to succeed in defense innovation.

​Agenda

​From Zero to One: Building a Defense Tech/Dual-Use Startup | Early-stage founders share lessons learned entering the defense tech market.

​Growth-Stage Defense Tech: Scaling in a Complex Ecosystem | Companies scaling with defense customers share insights.

​The Defense Tech Investor Perspective | VCs on evaluating and supporting defense tech companies.

​Government Capital and Programs: What's Working, What's Not | DIU, AFWERX, In-Q-Tel, and more on evolving public-private investment.

​Pitch Arena | Founders pitch their companies to a panel of investors, government leaders, and operators. One will be crowned winner after live judging and deliberation.

​Joining Us At This Year's Defense Tech and Dual Use Conference:

​Investors

• ​Mack Darrow – Mark IV Capital

• ​Meka Asonye – First Round Capital

• ​Mike Sherbakov – The Veteran Fund

• ​Ryan Micheletti – The Veteran Fund

• ​Chris Morales – Point72 Ventures

• ​Larsen Jensen – Harpoon Ventures

• ​Paige Craig – Outlander VC

• ​Nick Snoad – Marlinspike

• ​Kevin Higgins – Snowpoint VC

• ​Manveer Sandhu – Plug and Play Tech Center

• ​David Hartford – IronGate Capital

• ​Celeste Ford – Stellar Solutions

​Founders/Operators

• ​Jim Lose – The Military Veteran 

• ​John Price – Highground Market

• ​Mack Ohlinger – Dunedain AI

• ​Kris Sandor – Readyly

• ​Thomas Li – Deepnight AI

• ​Adam Warmoth – Chariot Defense

• ​James Brown – Schemata

• ​Neal Rickner – Airloom Energy

• ​Thomas Higginbotham – Kestrel Intelligence

• ​Joel Nelson – Raptor Dynamix

• ​Sasha Seymore – Learn To Win

• ​Nuri Golan – Version Bravo

• ​Rachel Olney – Arkenstone Defense

• ​Alex Moffitt – Clara Copilot AI

​Government

• ​Michael Nordhausen – Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)

• ​Evan Karlik – Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)