Silicon Valley Defense Group

🔍 Policy Brief: Strengthening Industry to Bolster AUKUS Private capital investment and robust public-private collaboration are critical for AUKUS partners to achieve our shared national security goals. In her latest report, "Reviving industry: How the Australian Government can be a better customer to the manufacturing sector," SVDG International Fellow Bronte Munro outlines actionable strategies for aligning Australia's manufacturing capabilities with its national security objectives. The report highlights the importance of leveraging private capital—both domestic and foreign—to revitalize Australia’s manufacturing sector. Key recommendations include: 1️⃣  Independent Manufacturing Review for National Security: A comprehensive plan engaging government and private stakeholders to reverse the decline in manufacturing and sustain future investments. 2️⃣  Uplift Project Office (UPO): A dedicated office to enhance the government's ability to collaborate with industry and international partners, ensuring alignment with critical alliance initiatives like AUKUS.

📰Sign Up for Our Newsletter! 📰 Friends and partners of SVDG, many of you have recently asked how to stay apprised of all of our programming and activities, so we decided to make that easier, and we started a newsletter! Every other month, SVDG delivers a concise update straight to your inbox, keeping you in the loop without overwhelming you. What can you expect? Our newsletter recaps recent events, announces future initiatives, and highlights developments in our ETR ecosystem. It's your window into the world of SVDG! We value your input too. Have ideas for future content? We're all ears. Help us shape a newsletter that truly serves our community. Sign up using the link below and join our growing SVDG family! http://eepurl.com/hqdY81

No rest for the weary... our team left the Reagan National Defense Forum this weekend and headed straight up to #SiliconValley to host Laura Taylor-Kale, PhD, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy and her team for a focused round table at Playground Global on the United States Department of Defense's first-ever #NationalDefenseIndustrialStrategy and implementation plan. We had a wide-ranging conversation with incredible startups, investors, defense tech legal experts, and our partners at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), covering everything from commercial item determinations to industrial security to the critically important upcoming reauthorization of the #DefenseProductionAct. Thank you LTK and team for all you have done to lean into ensuring the #DIB is ready and resilient! Much work remains to be done and we look forward to a continued partnership and deepened engagement with your team in 2025 and beyond.

Yesterday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute's 2024 #ReaganNationalDefenseForum, Secretary Austin noted that "our unmatched network of alliances and partnerships is one of America's great strategic advantages. Our allies and partners magnify our strength. They project our power. And they deepen our security." A few hours later that message was deeply reinforced as we hosted an incredible group of patriots at our 4th annual Silicon Valley Defense Group Chairman's Dinner - named for the first Chairman of SVDG's advisory board, HON Congressman Mac Thornberry. We kicked off this year's dinner differently than in years past, with a timely fireside chat entitled "Emerging Technology Readiness and Critical Alliances: A Blueprint for TechnoSecurity in the Indo-Pacific Theater" between ADM Sam Paparo, Jr.,USN, Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and Australian Ambassador to the United States, HON Kevin Rudd, expertly moderated by the inestimable HON Ellen Lord. The strength and resolve we derive from our most critical alliances are indeed paramount to our national and global security. It was a privilege to host so many friends and partners last night, and to bear witness to the vastly deepened relationships between #industry, #investors, and #policymakers we are seeing in this space. Thank you to our guests and mission partners for an absolutely phenomenal evening. Ideon Technologies Embassy of Sweden in USA Amazon Web Services (AWS) RTX Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) Overland AI IQT (In-Q-Tel) Shield Capital U.S. House of Representatives United States Senate Lazard Franklin Templeton Kratos Defense and Security Solutions Applied Energetics, Inc. Modern Intelligence Lux Capital WestExec Advisors X-Bow Systems Inc. Second Front American Enterprise Institute Fenwick & West Vannevar Labs JPMorganChase ACMI Group Lightspeed Booz Allen Hamilton SAIC Palantir Technologies AIN Ventures Australian Embassy Washington DC Lila Sciences Microsoft Domino Data Lab Lockheed Martin Playground Global

Congratulations to Vannevar Labs on this major milestone! While prototyping is an important stage of national security innovation, transitioning technologies through production agreements is essential for maximizing advanced capabilities at scale.

Last week, SVDG moderated a conversation with Tanagra Enterprises’ founder, Sarah Mineiro, as a part of the Techstars Space Cohort's visit to Washington, DC. With an eye for helping founders navigate government affairs and contracting, Sarah addressed common misconceptions about government funding of early-stage companies. She also took the pulse of the space technology ecosystem and answered questions about the best first steps companies can take to improve their chances of earning procurement dollars. It was great to talk to so many founders and be a part of their journey to get their innovative technology to the right customers. We are always happy to help founders navigate the US Government. Thank you to Techstars for letting us have this talk, and thank you to Zeno Power for hosting us in their DC office.

Last week, we hosted a Lunch and Learn entitled "Exploring the INDOPACOM Innovation Security Cooperation Landscape" with our friends at the Forge Group, LLC. We had an incredible group of experts and practitioners in the room from industry (big and small), government, and private capital, and we had discussions ranging from foreign military sales and international security cooperation to INDOPACOM's investment focus areas to strategies and best practices for commercial industry identification of and participation in programs with allied foreign government partners. Thank you so much to Brittney Killen and Scott DeWitt, PMP, and the team for your thoughtful analyses and for sharing the lessons you learned with our friends at SVDG! Stay tuned for the December iteration of our new Lunch and Learn series!

🎉 Huge congratulations to Second Front Systems (2F) on their incredible $70M Series C funding round, led by Salesforce Ventures! As a public-benefit software company, 2F is making significant strides in ensuring the best commercial technologies support critical national security missions. Their work to bridge the gap between commercial tech and the U.S. government—and now with international expansion like their partnership with NATO—is truly game-changing. We're proud to have 2F as part of the Silicon Valley Defense Group ecosystem and to see their well-deserved recognition on our NATSEC100 list. Excited to see how this next chapter accelerates their impact on global security. Read more from Tyler Sweatt here: https://lnkd.in/drQWrm-S

Over the past month, SVDG had the privilege of hosting three important engagements with Congressional Delegations from the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) in the Bay Area. In early September, we welcomed Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) and HASC staff for two insightful lunches at Playground Global's office. Most recently, we hosted Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL), Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA), and 11 other members of HASC for a National Security & Emerging Technology Policy Salon Dinner. This event brought together key legislators, industry leaders, and venture capital for a high-impact dialogue. The events provided a unique platform for candid dialogue on the intersection of cutting-edge technology and national security policy. Topics ranged from advancing innovation within the defense sector to ensuring the United States maintains a competitive edge in emerging technologies. We believe these engagements are essential to addressing the critical challenges our nation faces and fostering solutions that protect U.S. interests globally. A heartfelt thank you to our partners and participants for making these events both productive and insightful! #NationalSecurity #EmergingTech #DefenseInnovation #PublicPrivatePartnerships #SVDG

Over the past month, SVDG had the privilege of hosting three important engagements with Congressional Delegations from the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) in the Bay Area. In early September, we welcomed Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) and HASC staff for two insightful lunches at Playground Global's office. Most recently, we hosted Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL), Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA), and 11 other members of HASC for a National Security & Emerging Technology Policy Salon Dinner. This event brought together key legislators, industry leaders, and venture capital for a high-impact dialogue. The events provided a unique platform for candid dialogue on the intersection of cutting-edge technology and national security policy. Topics ranged from advancing innovation within the defense sector to ensuring the United States maintains a competitive edge in emerging technologies. We believe these engagements are essential to addressing the critical challenges our nation faces and fostering solutions that protect U.S. interests globally. A heartfelt thank you to our partners and participants for making these events both productive and insightful! #NationalSecurity #EmergingTech #DefenseInnovation #PublicPrivatePartnerships #SVDG