The Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative
Connecting Brilliant Technical Minds to Brilliant Business Minds
Scroll Down

  the internet, miniaturized GPS, smart phones, RNA vaccines, stealth, commercial space access, and autonomous vehicles.

Opportunity

The Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative provides funding to connect DARPA’s technical teams with commercialization experts. We provide funding, mentoring, and connections. The EEI grants DARPA teams with access to techno-economic market mapping to understand the commercial market for the technology’s success and connections to investors and corporate partners to bring in curated capital. DARPA will continue to scale the EEI program through regional Commercial Accelerators.

Initiative

The Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative (EEI) provides catalytic funding, mentorship, and investor and corporate connections for DARPA researchers.

Resources Provided:

  • Non-dilutive funding to hire a seasoned entrepreneur or business executive for 1 to 2 years with the goal of developing a robust go-to-market strategy for both defense and commercial markets
  • Dedicated commercialization mentors with extensive private sector experience

Accelerators

DARPA will work with five top Commercial Accelerators from across the nation to facilitate rapid commercialization and scale of DARPA-funded technologies. The regional Commercial Accelerators are:

  • Capital Factory, based in Austin
  • Consortia for Improving Medicine with Innovation and Technology (CIMIT), based in Boston
  • FedTech, based in Arlington, Virginia
  • Stanford Research Institute (SRI), based in Menlo Park, California
  • Wireless Research Center of North Carolina, based in Wake Forest, North Carolina

DARPA Commercial Accelerators will work with qualified DARPA-funded companies developing early-stage technologies with the potential for significant impact to:

  1. Access regional top-tier commercial and entrepreneurial talent and investor networks
  2. Connect DARPA performers with non-adversarial private investment capital and U.S. corporations
  3. Provide additional training, mentoring, coaching, techno-economic market mapping, financial analysis, deal sourcing, and early-stage company building (pre-seed)
  4. Leverage unique regional capabilities—including universities, labs, and demonstration sites—with domain expertise relevant to both Department of Defense acquisition and commercialization
  5. Develop strategies and approaches to de-risk the highest market inefficiencies and business risk to ensure DARPA-funded technologies can be scaled rapidly for economic and national security

Impact

DARPA Commercial Accelerators will enhance and scale Commercial Strategy’s successful Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative (EEI) pilot program. The EEI program provides funding to connect a performer’s technical team with commercialization experts. Since 2022, the EEI program has helped DARPA performers raise over $1 billion in private investment capital and launch over 21 new products, services, and capabilities. Additionally, U.S. corporations have invested $639 million in acquisition of DARPA early-stage technologies.

We are proud to highlight a few of our outstanding EEI teams.

Embody

Embody is pioneering next generation regenerative medical devices and therapeutics for the repair of tendon and ligament injuries. Embody has novel collagen-based additive biomanufacturing platform technologies and products for Achilles, rotator cuff, and knee ligament repair.

Embody recently:
  • Raised a $9.3M Series A.
  • Built, qualified, and are selling products from their novel DARPA-driven FabriTec hybrid electrospinning-pneumatospinning manufacturing platform and facilities in Norfolk, VA.
  • Secured FDA 510(k) clearance and launched their tendon repair product, Tapestry™.

Tasso

Tasso is developing self-collection devices for on-demand blood sampling. They recently raised $17M Series A and are ramping up kit shipments to meet surging demand for more patient-friendly diagnostic solutions.

Beta Hatch

Beta Hatch's insect-rearing technology converts low-value industrial byproducts into high-value proteins, oils, and nutrients for agriculture. The valorization of agricultural byproducts and wastes through insects allows Beta Hatch to cost-effectively, and scalably, address the growing needs for environmentally and sustainably sourced feed, food, and fertilizer. Working with DARPA, Beta Hatch has developed mealworms as a bioremediation tool to recover nutrients from mycotoxin contaminated feedstocks.

Beta Hatch is building a flagship commercial rearing facility, which will enable thousands of tons of insect production. This operation in Cashmere, WA will be the largest mealworm production facility for animal feed in North America. Through partnership with strategic investor Wilbur Ellis, Beta Hatch has secured venture backed Series A financing to enable this pivotal growth. In 2020 with help from EEI, Beta Hatch hired a VP of Business Development and formalized a $20M customer pipeline and pre-sold capacity through 2021.

LightDeck Diagnostics

LightDeck Diagnostics’ portfolio includes rapid, highly sensitive, multiplexed point-of-care diagnostics for COVID-19, sepsis, and cardiac markers. LightDeck believes in a new approach to healthcare, where lab-quality, rapid diagnostic tests are run wherever and whenever they are needed. The platform is built on advanced planar waveguide technology that uses inexpensive, disposable test cartridges, and a portable analyzer.

LightDeck recently:
  • Raised approximately $60M from government agencies, private investors, and venture capital funds. Closed $11M Series B in July 2020.
  • Developed and launched the LightDeck COVID-19 Total Antibody Test, funded in part by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
  • Shipped their first instrument and IL-6 test kits to the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) for research in COVID-19 and sepsis.
  • Started development of a 3-plex host-response panel for the management of COVID-19 and other serious infections.

Photo Credit: Colorado Bioscience Association

ProbiusDx

ProbiusDx, a spinout from Stanford University, is developing a quantum-enabled, AI-driven, bioanalytical platform to detect and quantify a wide variety of analytes in biological matrices. Analytes include pathogens, (e.g., that cause COVID-19 and sepsis), proteins and biomarkers (e.g., those useful in discovery, diagnosis, and therapeutic endpoints), as well as bio fingerprinting of complex biological specimens to detect subtle QA/QC differences, with a single, simplified workflow.

Probius has raised $9.85M in Seed and Series A financing to date.

stealth

Stealth

The DARPA Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative supports several classified efforts. In these cases, EEI funding, mentorship, and connections ensure that sustainable businesses are established in the U.S. and are successfully selling capabilities for national security.

ProbiusDx

ProbiusDx, a spinout from Stanford University, is developing a quantum-enabled, AI-driven, bioanalytical platform to detect and quantify a wide variety of analytes in biological matrices. Analytes include pathogens, (e.g., that cause COVID-19 and sepsis), proteins and biomarkers (e.g., those useful in discovery, diagnosis, and therapeutic endpoints), as well as bio fingerprinting of complex biological specimens to detect subtle QA/QC differences, with a single, simplified workflow.

Probius has raised $9.85M in Seed and Series A financing to date.

stealth

Stealth

The DARPA Embedded Entrepreneur Initiative supports several classified efforts. In these cases, EEI funding, mentorship, and connections ensure that sustainable businesses are established in the U.S. and are successfully selling capabilities for national security.

How to Participate

We’re always on the lookout for hands-on entrepreneurs, mentors, early-stage investors, and corporate partners! Please select your ideal role to view more details on how to get involved in DARPA EEI.

To be eligible to participate in EEI you must be a current or former DARPA Performer/Researcher with exceptional technology and performance. Speak to your DARPA Program Manager about your interest in EEI. DARPA Program Managers nominate performers to be considered for participation. Acceptance is on a rolling basis and there are a limited number of spots. If you are a former DARPA performer, learn more and apply via the DARPA EEI Commercial Solutions Opening.

Contact the EEI Team

If you are a top-tier early-stage, high-impact tech investor, or part of an investment group (e.g., private equity, venture capital, family office, corporate venture, M&A, or corporate innovation group) and committed to scaling dual-use DARPA-funded technology, learning more about our EEI portfolio, or serving as a coach or mentor for one of our DARPA EEI research teams, please contact us to learn more.

Contact the EEI Team

If you have experience launching technology companies and want to give back to our nation by commercializing research and helping to set the strategy of DARPA-backed startups, learn more and apply.

Contact the EEI Team

Interested in providing follow-on funding or adoption opportunities for particular EEI technologies? Let’s talk. We are looking forward to connecting, learning best practices from our government peers, and sharing results from this new model!

Contact the EEI Team

Nominate current DARPA Performers/Researchers whose technology is meeting or exceeding program goals. Encourage former DARPA performers to apply to the DARPA EEI Commercial Solutions Opening. Acceptance is on a rolling basis and there are a limited number of spots.

Contact the EEI Team

Meet The Commercial Strategy Team

DARPA Commercial Strategy leads the agency’s efforts to bring top business expertise and commercial entrepreneurial talent to DARPA performers. Commercial Strategy’s mission is to prevent adversarial influence in DARPA-funded technologies, so they remain accessible and available to the United States and its allies. The Commercial Strategy team focuses on reducing the highest business risks to enable defense and commercial sectors to scale DARPA technologies faster, more efficiently, and with maximum impact for national and economic security.

Sha-Chelle Manning, Chief of Commercial Strategy

Thomas Hester, Chief of Staff

Aaron Kofford, Advisor