Navy seeking entrepreneurs to commercialize innovations
The NavalX Midwest Tech Bridge and Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division have opened registration for the second annual PROPELS initiative. The program seeks potential licensees to commercialize patented technology developed by the Navy.
As part of the program, a tech expo will be held April 26 to showcase four patented innovations. Potential licensees will then take part in a weeklong business accelerator to develop commercialization plans for the technology, with help from NSWC Crane and The Mill, a nonprofit startup accelerator in Bloomington.
The technology that will be showcase includes IP for drone detection and tracking, a specialized tourniquet to treat hard-to-reach injuries, natural language processing software designed to categorize large amounts of data, and a 3D printing innovation for additive manufacturing.
The program will culminate with a public demonstration of the participants’ plans on June 20.
PROPELS, which stands for PRomising OPportunities for Engagement with the Local ecoSystem, launched last year. Maria Duran, director of NSWC Crane’s Office of Technology Transfer said the program was met with great success.
“This year, we want to expand the number of entrepreneurs involved and believe we’ll diversify the skillsets of participants based upon new technology available,” Duran said.
Once the program is complete, participants will have the opportunity to license the technology from the Navy and launch new businesses or product lines. They will also be invited to pitch their ideas at the Radius Indiana Crane IP Defense Innovation Pitch Competition on June 27.
“Connecting the entrepreneurial community with the Navy is one of the goals of NavalX,” said Anne Fields Lucas, director of the Midwest Tech Bridge, headquartered at NSWC Crane. “It’s our hope that events like PROPELS create synergies for future collaboration between the government and the tech community all with the intent of increasing our defense industrial base and supporting our warfighters.”
You can learn more about the PROPELS Accelerator by clicking here.