The Army xTechsearch is a crowd sourced competition to engage citizen-solvers in prize competitions for top ideas and concepts as well as breakthrough software, scientific and technology solutions that help achieve their missions.
The most recent challenge, xTechsearch5, offered a total cash prize over $2 million spread out over multiple small businesses & sole proprietors. Here's an example:
The xTechSearch program also strives to integrate these small businesses into the Army’s S&T ecosystem by providing research opportunities with Army labs, including authorized access to the Army’s organic intellectual and technical capital. Every small business idea submitted will receive detailed operational and technical feedback from Army stakeholders. Participating companies will have access to training, mentorship and other support infrastructure as they progress through the contest to determine how best to align their technology solutions with real users and buyers within the Army. Finalists will be entered into the xTech Accelerator to receive intensive mentorship and access to networking events to help grow their companies for Army and commercial users. xTechSearch is an opportunity for businesses to pitch novel technology solutions – a new application for an existing technology or an entirely new technology concept – to the Army.
SBIR GUIDE founder Ed Bard, became an xTechSearch3 finalist with his company Response Technologies. Hear about his experience:
To learn more about the Army xTechsearch program, visit https://www.arl.army.mil/xtechsearch/.