Army showcasing innovative technologies during xTech3 Summit

By Jaspreet Gill / September 8, 2020 at 4:26 PM

The Army this week will display technologies from more than 250 small businesses through a virtual summit for the third iteration of the Army Expeditionary Technology Search competition, the service announced today.

The event, called the xTech3 Summit, will be broadcast from Sept. 9 to 11 and will include small businesses that have been incubated through the program since 2018 and a technology showcase from finalists of the xTechSearch3 Accelerator program.

Army acquisition executive Bruce Jette launched the xTechSearch competition in 2018 and the service has operated the xTech Accelerator for competition finalists since 2019.

"The Accelerator not only actively develops the finalists into robust, sustainable small businesses, but also demystifies and guides them in transitioning their technologies for the Army," according to the release.

Ten finalists from the competition will virtually pitch and demo technologies, competing for a $250,000 grand prize.

"The summit will feature a keynote welcome from Army leaders, deep dives on the programs supporting tech startups, and final pitches from xTechSearch3 finalists," the release states. "A variety of technology topics will be discussed by leading experts in the field, including future flight technologies, human performance enablers and biotech breakthroughs. Each session will be followed by engineered virtual networking opportunities, allowing all participants to interact and build relationships."

Jette also launched a COVID-19 ventilator competition through the xTechSearch program in April for a low-cost, easily produced emergency ventilator. The first two $100,000 prizes were awarded to Spiro Devices and AirMid Critical Care Products later that month.

Additionally, the service in March announced 10 semifinalists for the fourth iteration of the competition, xTechSearch 4.0, and kicked off xTechSearch 5.0.

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