Little Rock’s Forge Institute celebrated the culmination of its months-long Phoenix Xcelerator process with a Thursday afternoon “Demo Day” at the Clinton Presidential Library.
Designed to provide mentorship and feasibility to aerospace and defense startups, Forge’s Phoenix Xcelerator began with the selection of five small companies looking to enter the fields of national defense and cybersecurity. The Xcelerator is part of Forge’s overarching goal of a $1 billion impact on the state economy through military and defense manufacturing by 2030.
Arkansas currently boasts over 170 aerospace and defense companies, bringing in over $1.7 billion per year and employing over 10,000 state residents.
“We think this is the right five to build Arkansas,” Forge Chairman and CEO Lee Watson said, adding that Forge represents a twofold mission of bolstering the state economy while pursuing innovation to maintain the country’s “unfair advantage” in matters of homeland defense.
“Things are getting so complicated,” Watson said. “And cyber (security) is part of all that. It’s not when China makes a move, it’s if the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) makes a move. There will very likely be kinetic activity in the Indo-Pacific, but there will 100% be cyber activity domestically, and there’s still plenty more to do.”
Watson was joined by Bryant’s Walter Burgess, co-CEO of Alexander-based Power Technology. Burgess has served as an “entrepreneur in residence” since the Xcelerator’s inception, joining a 17-person advisory board representing fields including business, military intelligence, cyber security and information security.
“Over the past 12 weeks, we’ve witnessed incredible transformation of these companies,” Burgess said. “This specialized defense-specific knowledge equips our startups and our small businesses with a distinct advantage as they navigate and excel in securing defense-related business opportunities.”
The five startups represented Thursday underwent an intensive process that included training in technological development, marketing and manufacturing. Those presenting Thursday were:
- Mod Tech Labs (Austin, Texas) – Presented an AI-enabled platform that creates automated and enhanced visual data to quickly create training and simulation materials for defense purposes.
- TaterTek LLC (Des Arc) – Presented plans for autonomous vehicles equipped with a proprietary propulsion system designed to move seamlessly across land, in water or underwater.
- Orion Edge Group (Lakewood, Colorado) – Presented wearable individual electromagnetic devices that allow personnel to disrupt communication and navigational networks of an adversary in a battlefield environment.
- Boston Mountain Defense (Fayetteville) – Presented AI advancements in material manufacturing to increase the survivability of battlefield personnel.
- NextGen Lights (Fayetteville) – Presented laser-powered spotlight technology for long-range night maneuvers in a maritime environment.
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