The encyclopedia · Software & IT · Operational decision · 2016–2017
Pentagon's fast lane funded startup contracts within 60 days of first meeting
The Commercial Solutions Opening let DIUx take short solution papers instead of proposals and put 37 companies under contract in 14 months.
U.S. Department of Defense · Defense Innovation Unit (DIUx) · SkySafe
the move
Startups repeatedly told the Pentagon its acquisition process was too slow. The Defense Innovation Unit responded with the Commercial Solutions Opening, a tool built to get companies funded in months rather than years.
The process starts with a short solution paper instead of a substantial proposal; promising companies are invited to present, and DIUx aims to issue funding within 60 days of the first meeting with the company.
In the program's first 14 months, 37 companies were put under contract, including drone-detection firms SkySafe and Sensofusion. Twenty percent of those contracts moved to production, putting technology in service members' hands.
why it works
- A short solution paper lowered the cost of saying yes on both sides.
- A published 60-day target changed vendor expectations about the buyer.
- Problem-specific solicitations gave startups a concrete entry point.
- A path from prototype to production kept serious vendors engaged.
what transfers
Procurement speed is a product decision: cut the document burden, set a public time-to-fund target, and the same vendors who avoid slow buyers will line up.
what came after
The approach spread across the Department of Defense and the General Services Administration, which built a fast-buying service around the same authority. DIUx's model of solution papers, short timelines and prototype-to-production paths became standard practice for defense innovation units.
references
- DIUX continues outreach into drone and satellite projects
- Government's Fast-Buying Service Takes Shape With First Customer
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