I spent a day with some of the US Navyleadership last week.
What I heard from the likes of Vice AdmiralSeiko Okano(Asst Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition),Justin Fanelli(Dept of Navy CTO),Rebecca Gassler(Portfolio Acquisition Executive Robotic and Autonomous Systems) and more, is the very real demand to speed and scale technology acquisition.
What I took away, was how swiftly technology can be adopted by the Navy, at impressive scales, when the demand signal is clear.
But we here atPropellerinvest at the "ocean-climate nexus," so what was I even doing at this event and how'd Propeller end up with so many dual-use portfolio companies anyway?
Firstly, to be clear, Propeller is not pivoting to defense-tech. But as you can see from the list above, we have a bunch of dual-use companies in our growing portfolio already. Secondly, it's more a function of the ocean, and the inherent intersection of oceanographic innovation and technology applications that can benefit people and planet, as well as national interests (many of which were funded at some point by the Navy).
More to come on this from Propeller MPRodrigo J Prudencio. In the interim, thanks toOvermatch VenturesandDemand Signal Forumfor hosting, thanks to our Navy service members, and thanks to all the entrepreneurs out there innovating at the depths and edges of our ocean...
And a reminder that if you're an early stage entrepreneur working on something in, on, or around the ocean, we want to meet you.
