Techstars announced on Wednesday that it's launching a second startup accelerator in Boston with the U.S. Air Force that will focus on autonomous technologies.
The new program, which will begin January 22, 2018, is being led by Warren Katz, president of local artificial intelligence startup Neurala and co-founder of MÄK Technologies, a provider of military simulation software. The program began accepting applications today.
In Katz's blog post announcing the new accelerator, he said the program will focus on commercially viable startups whose technologies that serve both the private sector and government. He said this includes companies whose autonomous technology could enable or enhance the ability to track, identify and mitigate drone systems. These kinds of technologies could include computer vision, AI, high-performance computational hardware and software, secure communications, trusted identification and integration systems.
"To maintain a leadership position, the U.S. military must start doing business with startups that otherwise avoid bureaucracy."
In simpler terms, Katz is looking for startups whose products the U.S. Department of Defense could find helpful in the drone, robot and unmanned systems space, according to a job description on his LinkedIn profile.
Katz said this will be Techstars' second defense-focused accelerator. The first program focused on defense and security was launched in Adelaide, Australia, earlier this year.
"We are working with some forward-thinking entrepreneurs inside the military who have realized that the pace of innovation in the private sector is accelerating away from the military," Katz wrote in the blog post. "To maintain a leadership position, the U.S. military must start doing business with startups that otherwise avoid bureaucracy, by adapting their business processes to match the commercial world, not the other way around."
The Demo Day for the new accelerator is scheduled for April 19, 2018.
