When Army Futures Command selected Austin as its main hub for a new way of working with startups, it was easy to see the potential for defense-oriented startups to establish a presence nearby.
In just a few years, that has yielded several partnerships with large tech companies, as well as projects with smaller startup teams. Now, there's another newcomer citing Futures Command as a big factor in its expansion.
Arlington, Va.-based accelerator FedTech said May 25 it has selected Austin for its second office as it teams up with Futures Command on deep tech programs. Its office will be home to part-time staff as it builds a local team, likely including three to four hires this year, the company said via email.
FedTech, which has 35 employees total, plans to run two custom accelerators this year, as well as hosting an Advanced Technology Summit. Due to the new office, FedTech Director Will Dickson will split his time between Austin and Arlington. FedTech has coworking space at Industrious, inside the 823 Congress tower downtown.
FedTech already has a history of teaming up with the federal government, including partnerships with the Department of Defense, Department of Energy and NASA on accelerators, pitch competitions and creating partnerships with historically black colleges and universities.
While small in footprint, FedTech's branch in Austin will build on a growing group of companies that work closely with the military and federal agencies.
Army Futures Command itself has more than 400 employees in Austin, and it recently launched its Software Factory here in partnership with VMware and Austin Community College. Earlier this month, the Army Applications Laboratory opened a small business cohort for experts with ideas for robotic combat vehicles. That included a recent demo by Austin-based Apptronik, which showed off a robotic arm to reload cannons faster.
ABJ reporter Kathryn Hardison contributed to this report.
