The SRI-hosted Deep Tech Security Accelerator demonstrates what can happen when battle-tested innovation meets the right ecosystem.
Last year, SRI hosted 22 Ukrainian defense tech startups in Silicon Valley to help launch the inaugural cohort of the Deep Tech Security Accelerator (DTSA).
The impact of that program is already becoming clear. Participants have raised more than $30 million in new funding, strengthened ties with U.S. defense ecosystem leaders like the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), and secured new orders from allied governments. That early traction is helping operationally validated companies like Swarmer (autonomous solutions for UAVs), Moodro (counter-drone systems), Farsight Vision (3D modeling and geospatial visualization), and Himera (defense communications systems) translate wartime urgency into pathways for production, procurement, and international growth.
“Supporting these innovators reflects our commitment to advancing resilient, mission-driven solutions that matter.” — Peter Marcotullio
This month, SRI hosted the second DTSA cohort in collaboration with the Consulate General of Ukraine in San Francisco.
The DTSA program is designed for defense and dual-use startups that have proven performance in operational or combat-like environments and are ready to expand into U.S., European, and Indo-Pacific allied markets. The six-month program is designed to back founders who can move quickly, iterate from real-world feedback, and scale technologies that matter across critical defense domains, including air, land, sea, space, cyber, autonomy, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare, sensing, robotics, bioscience, and medtech.
During the recent two-week Silicon Valley residency hosted at SRI’s campuses in Menlo Park and Palo Alto, founding teams in the second DTSA cohort engaged with the venture capital ecosystem; explored concepts like negotiation, product-market fit, and pitching; and learned about the intricacies of government contracting. In the coming months, the teams will continue to build connections with funders and mentors and mature their platforms to meet emerging defense challenges.
“At SRI, we translate breakthrough science into real-world impact, and that includes decades of contributions to national security,” says Peter Marcotullio, SRI’s senior vice president of commercialization. “By collaborating with the Deep Tech Security Accelerator team, we’re building on that ecosystem to foster the next generation of defense technologies — particularly these Ukrainian startups that operate under extraordinary conditions. Supporting these innovators reflects our commitment to advancing resilient, mission-driven solutions that matter.”
Learn more about the Deep Tech Security Accelerator team and program and explore how SRI’s own research is advancing security and defense technologies.
