Capital Factory is pleased to announce the $100,000 Artificial Intelligence Challenge focused on AI startups whose solutions address the four AI “initial thrusts” articulated by the Army Artificial Intelligence Task Force*. 

The launch of the AI Task Force allows the Army to better connect with the broader artificial intelligence community and focus their efforts in this dynamic field. Artificial intelligence capabilities are relevant to all services and each of the Army’s cross-functional teams (CFT’s). The Army AI Task Force, located at Carnegie Mellon University, is subordinate organization of Army Futures Command.

On November 19th, during Capital Factory’s Defense Innovation Summit, five technology startup finalists will be judged by a panel of successful entrepreneurs, defense industry leaders and venture capitalists. One will walk away with a $100,000 investment that day! 

Startups! Submit your application on AngelList

Who is eligible?

Any U.S.-based startup company with a solution to one of the four problems identified below can apply to participate. If you win, you will receive a $100,000 investment from Capital Factory on a convertible note.

Here are the four initial thrusts identified by the AI Task Force:

Intelligence Support (Long Range Precision Fires): As part of the Army’s number one priority, LRPF, the AI Hub will lead development into an intelligence support platform designed to identify, assess and prioritize threats based on real-time updates from all available sensors, both manned and unmanned. This platform will provide real-time updates to command echelons alongside ground units while distilling and filtering information relevant to the corresponding unit. 

Automated Threat Recognition (Next Generation Combat Vehicle): The NGCV is the U.S. Army’s second priority. The AI Hub will focus on helping develop systems to support an automated vehicle and fleet of vehicles. This will not only include autonomous driving, but will go a step further by developing and integrating automated threat recognition. This solution will be designed to reduce the cognitive load for leaders and soldiers to more swiftly find, fix, track and target threats on the battlefield. 

Human Resources/Talent Management (Human Capital): The U.S. Army wants to improve the critical life-cycle function for managing its most valuable resource: people. They are doing this by identifying the core competencies that made successful performers ideal for their roles and matching these with potential candidates for the position within the ranks of the U.S. Army and potential soldiers from the recruiting station.

Predictive Maintenance (PMx): Vehicle maintenance is intensely resource expensive, and the Army wants to break away from their legacy method of performing routine maintenance and parts replacement on all fleets. They want to leverage recorded data by integrating stressor variables from different environments that equipment performs under to predict and prevent breakdowns before failure. 

Defense Innovation

Earlier this year, Capital Factory opened the Center for Defense Innovation — 23,000 square feet of collaboration space with the Army Applications Lab, AFWERX, Defense Innovation Unit, MD5, The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and a team of Booz Allen Hamilton’s defense innovators as initial tenants. This unprecedented collaboration between the public and private sector brings entrepreneurs and government innovators shoulder-to-shoulder in a coworking environment where they can learn from each other and have a kind of serendipity that can’t happen behind high security.

This new center of gravity for defense innovation brings together military leaders with entrepreneurs, innovators, and established defense industry leaders to co-create solutions that ensure our armed forces are poised to meet the threats of tomorrow. Just a few months ago on June 6, the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, Capital Factory held the Defense Innovation Challenge and awarded $100,000 to Austin startup, ZPEG, a video compression marketplace that reduces file sizes and streaming costs.

To showcase the finalists of this $100,000 AI Challenge and select the winner, the November 19th Defense Innovation Summit at Capital Factory’s Center for Defense Innovation will gather Texas’ hottest startups, investors, mentors, and corporate companies in the defense industry. The day will also include keynotes, lightning talks, Epic Office Hours, panel discussions, lunch, happy hour, and more to connect Texas’ defense startup ecosystem and make the introductions to fuel its growth.

Think you’ve got a shot at $100,000? Apply now on AngelList to be one of five teams selected to pitch. You could walk away with $100,000 and a new home at the Center of Gravity for Defense Innovation! Application deadline is October 25.

Startups! Submit your application on AngelList

*Disclaimer: Investment will be made from the Capital Factory fund. Army Futures Command and AI Task Force are not providing any funds and have no formal affiliation with the investment challenge.