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BETTER SOLUTIONS, FASTER

Government problem owners are on the hunt for better, faster, and cheaper ways to meet immediate operational needs. AAL works with creative, agile companies to speed up capability development, limit technology risk to Army investments, and identify the most promising commercial solutions, especially in areas where technology is booming and there’s a growing demand across the force – including AI, alternative fuels, drones, autonomy, and other areas.

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Minimize Risk

By using a co-funding approach including sister services, industry, and others and applying multiple funding sources, we lower financial and technology risk for government problem owners that have dedicated budgets and deadlines. This approach helps you gain valuable insight, inform requirements, and better determine if your project can go from concept to a solution in Soldiers' hands.

EXAMPLE | Our Cohort Program
WHO WE'VE WORKED WITH

Funding Streams

We pull from several different funding sources such as RDT&E, SBIR, and private capital, allowing us to cast a wider net for solution development while improving the odds of companies’ success on your projects. This blended approach uses existing programs in new ways and creates flexibility within programs that need technology on a timeline.

RDT&E

Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) funding, is a type of funding provided by the Department of Defense (DOD) to support scientific and technical research and development. AAL's congressionally provided RDT&E funds allow us to fund projects up to prototype (TRL 6).

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SBIR

The Army's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding is dedicated to research and development (R&D) projects for small businesses. Learn more about how AAL uses SBIR funding through the SPARTN program.

Learn More About SPARTN Program

PRIVATE CAPITAL

There are times when private capital investment makes sense for a company because it can advance technology development, increase available features, reduce timelines, and support small organizations in need of capital. If companies are interested, we will facilitate introductions to a curated selection of VCs in our network.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Through our transition-minded approach to innovation, we keep Army problem owners in the driver’s seat and empower them through engagement with technical experts, end users, and industry solvers to develop solutions to enhance the performance of project portfolios.

We serve our government partners by…

  • Identifying the most promising solutions and new technologies from a broad, international base of companies
  • Doing the market research and due diligence for you
  • Providing access to multiple funding sources, benefiting budgets and tight deadlines
  • Maintaining consistent alignment of problem and solution through continuous engagements among problem owners, end users, subject matter experts, and industry solvers
  • Offering solution options to capability developers on our time and our dime

AAL has an ever-growing network of cutting edge technology companies who often have never done business with the Army before, bringing new technologies and unique perspectives on the best ways to solve challenging Army problems. Our dedicated Corporate Ventures team actively engages the corporate tech ecosystem in search of the best, most innovative companies in the world.

SPARTN combines Army SBIR funding and AAL's business model to create a program that moves — and pays — at the speed of business. SPARTN is a whole-of-Army approach to innovation that blends government and industry best practices to enable more effective project funding.

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