Space & defense · Washington DC
A booster does the hardest part of the flight, then lets go.
We find space and defense companies before they are looking for us, and stay with them through the heaviest stage: first serious customer, first real contract, first capital that isn't friendly money.
We are
Selection
Every company we look at is read against the same five criteria — the ones we scout against, and the ones we work on once we're in. You'll always know which gate you're standing at.
Who is in the room, what they've shipped before, and whether the founding team can survive a procurement cycle that takes longer than their runway.
A wedge narrow enough to win and large enough to matter. Most space and defense companies die from a market defined too broadly, not too narrowly.
Distance between what the team says it will do and what it has done. Measured in shipped work, not roadmap slides.
The repeatable mechanism that brings in the next customer and the one after that.
Growth engine is not fundraising. Raising money is an event; a growth engine is a system that works whether or not anyone is writing checks that quarter.
What comes in, what goes out, and how long the company controls its own decisions. The gate that decides whether the other four ever get tested.
Programs
Scouting comes first and feeds everything else. A company can enter at any point along the line.
We look for the companies rather than waiting for them. Sector-by-sector search, a scout network already inside the labs, primes and agencies, and a direct conversation with the founder — read against the Five Gates before anything formal begins.
Space and defense companies, anywhere
For teams at idea or prototype stage, often coming out of labs, universities or a defense career. We work out whether there is a company here before three years get spent learning it the expensive way.
Pre-product teams and technical founders
Direct access to people who have sold into agencies and primes, cleared procurement, and built companies in this sector rather than adjacent to it. Matched to the problem you're stuck on, not assigned by calendar slot.
Founders who need specific operators
The main body of work. Sharpen the wedge, build the pipeline, set the pricing, map the procurement path, and get in front of the agencies and primes who actually sign — ready for the hard questions when they come.
Companies chasing a first major contract
Rooms where founders, investors, mentors and scouts are in the same place with a reason to talk. This is also where much of the scouting happens — the sector shows up, and we see who is worth a second conversation.
Everyone building, backing or buying in the sector
How it works
Through the scout network, the events, or a direct approach from someone who already knows your work. If you'd rather not wait to be found, you can put yourself on the list.
Every company is read against the same five criteria. You get the read back either way, including when the answer is no.
Which program, which gate we're opening first, what changes in the next quarter, and what we're each responsible for. Written down before anything starts.
Go-to-market built with you, not handed to you: the wedge, the pipeline, the pricing, the procurement path, and the meetings that follow from it.
Scouting
We do the looking — but the sector is large and we won't reach everyone in time. If you're building in space or defense, put yourself in front of us.
Tell us what you're building, who buys it, and where you are today. It gets read against the Five Gates, and you get an answer either way.