Private Capital Investor Cohort (PCIC)

Purpose
SOFWERX, in collaboration with USSOCOM, will host an Assessment Event to identify private capital organizations with novel technology companies that align with the Special Operations Forces Acquisition Technology and Logistics (SOF AT&L) portfolio.

Background/Synopsis
USSOCOM requires a private capital cohort to help accelerate capability development across all USSOCOM Program Executive Offices. Private capital organizations must understand markets and technologies aligned with SOF interests and have expertise in academic and accelerator services. Understanding that awardee maturity can happen through commercial revenue, Prime partnerships, Phase III contracts, private investment, and other government opportunities, a solution provider must have expertise on all means to actualize the capability.

Objective
The objective is to provide a purpose-driven community around accelerating SOF capability to solve operational problems. This program will host in-person and virtual events focused on best practices to deliver new capabilities at speed and scale to the SOF warfighter.

Who Should Submit?
Criteria for inclusion in the Cohort are:  

• Company should have a record of investing in defense technology. A record of investments in technologies aligned with the SOF AT&L portfolio of programs is highly desirable. A record of investing in defense technology companies who have had successful exits (merger, acquisition, initial public offering etc.), is also highly desirable.
• Company may have a record of investing at the Seed and Series A stages of company growth.
• Company may have a record of later stage investing; Series B and beyond.
• Company may be considered growth equity and/or traditional banking.
• Company should have raised an investment fund and be in the process of deploying capital over the period of performance.
• The Company need not meet the definition of a Venture Capital fund as given meaning by the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 (15 USC 80b), though Companies must be accredited investors as defined by Rule 501 of Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933.
• The General Partnership and employees of the Company must be U.S. Citizens.
• Passive Limited Partners that are non-U.S. entities will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis but may not be otherwise prohibited or restricted from doing business with the Government. For example, entities on the DoD “Section 1260H” list (P.L. 116-283), the Office of Financial Asset Control Specially Designated National list, or the Bureau of Industry and Security Entity List.

Why You Should Participate
USSOCOM seeks to enter into non-FAR or FAR-based agreements with Industry, Academic, and National Lab partners whose solutions are favorably evaluated by USSOCOM Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). As such, the follow-on Assessment Event (AE) is considered competitive and solutions will be evaluated independently of one another primarily for technical merit. This serves dually as notification of the intent to research the feasibility of an agreement under 10 U.S. Code, Section 4022 and/or Section 4022(f), and as notice of pre-solicitation activities IAW FAR 5.204.

Event Timeline
Phase 1 – 02 February 2026 – 20 February 2026 Submissions to the Assessment Event (AE) Open: Interested respondents who could potentially provide solutions that meet the needs of USSOCOM are encouraged to submit their capability for USSOCOM review. To submit your technology for potential selection, please review the assessment criteria and follow the submission instructions that are near the bottom of this webpage.

Phase 2 – 23 February 2026 to 27 February 2026 Downselect: USSOCOM will downselect those respondents/submissions they feel have the highest potential to satisfy their technology needs. Favorably evaluated submissions will receive a Request for Information (RFI) on/around 02 March.

Phase 3 – 04 March 2026 to 20 March Assessment Event (AE): During the AE, selected companies will be reviewed by the USSOCOM evaluation panel. The review may include a Q&A session and discussions outside the event. Submission guidelines for the RFI will be outlined in the event invitation and will be assessed according to the participant criteria listed above and responses to the RFI. If the USSOCOM evaluation panel favorably evaluates a submission, negotiations for Phase 4 may immediately begin.

This event will be held virtually via MS Teams.  

Phase 4 - Path Forward: Successfully negotiated awards may fall under any combination of these categories:

• Business to business research and development agreement as a sub-award through the SOFWERX Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) (15 U.S. Code Section 3715)
• OTA for research or prototype projects (10 U.S. Code Sections 4021, 4022)
  • An award under 10 U. S. Code, Section 4022 may result in the further award of a follow-on production agreement without additional competition based on successful prototype completion. The Government may make this follow-on production award based upon successful prototype criteria, which will be determined for each prototype project.
• Procurement for experimental purposes (10 U.S. Code Section 4023)
• Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (15 U.S. Code Section 3710a)
• Prizes for advanced technology achievements (10 U. S. Code Section 4025) and/or prize competitions (15 U.S. Code 3719)
• FAR-based procurement contract 

NOTE: Awardees may need to be compliant with NIST SP 800-171, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in Non-Federal Systems and Organizations

How You Can Participate

1. Download the White Paper Template:Click Here to Review

2. Complete the submission form: Click Here to Submit(NLT 20 February 11:59 PM ET)

Questions?

For event-related questions, please contact Alana Hymel