DESCRIPTION

The U.S. Army is seeking agile, adaptive and lethal technology solutions from eligible small to medium business attending the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington, D.C., from October 13-15, 2025, to assist with critical Army priorities through the xTechDisrupt competition. This platform offers participants the opportunity to engage with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), compete for prize money and potentially participate in a post-competition accelerator program.

The U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology (ASA(ALT)) is partnering with the U.S. Army Directorate for Strategy & Transformation (DAMI-ST), U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC), the U.S. Army 25^th Infantry Division and Y Combinator (YC) to deliver the xTechDisrupt competition. Recognizing the need to reach beyond traditional defense partners, the U.S. Army is actively expanding its engagement with the commercial sector through dynamic platforms such as live pitch competitions—creating new opportunities for small and medium businesses to directly shape the future of national security. This initiative aims to (1) understand the spectrum of ‘world-class’ technologies being developed commercially with potential DoD applications; (2) actively integrate the sector of non-traditional innovators into the U.S. DoD Science and Technology (S&T) ecosystem; and (3) provide expertise and feedback to accelerate, mature, and transition technologies of interest to the U.S. DoD.

The xTechDisrupt competition will consist of three rounds with additional opportunities:

• Pre-Registration with Quad Chart submission, if selected will secure a guaranteed timeslot for the elevator pitch;
• On-site Registration for elevator pitch on a first-come, first-serve basis; and
• Live pitch event.

Additional opportunities include potential opportunities to participate in an experimentation and interview with YC.

The competition will award up to $500,000 in cash prizes to selected participants. Up to 36 applicants will be selected on-site at the 2025 AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition to present their technology concepts to a live panel of U.S. Army and DoD subject matter experts (SMEs) on either October 13 or 14, 2025. The U.S. Army intends to select up to eight (8) winners to receive a cash prize of $62,500 each. In addition to the monetary award, winners will earn exclusive opportunities that extend far beyond the competition itself. These include a direct interview with YC—one of the world’s most prestigious startup accelerators—for potential selection into a future cohort, as well as the chance to participate in the U.S. Army Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) experimentation event in Hawaii, taking place from November 7-16, 2025. Additional details on prize structure can be found in Section VII of the RFI.

There are two ways to register for xTechDisrupt:

• Pre-registration with Quad Chart submission to potentially secure a guaranteed timeslot for the 60-second elevator pitch; and
• On-site registration with no guaranteed timeslot, for the 60-second elevator pitch, on a first-come, first-serve basis.

All eligible entities, regardless of registration method, will be required to complete a registration form and deliver a 60-second elevator pitch that clearly outlines their technology concept and how it aligns with one of the four critical focus areas identified. This is required to ensure alignment with the U.S. Army’s operational needs and priorities. Additional details on the registration options can be found in Section IV of the RFI.

Please note: Entities that elect to participate through the pre-registration pathway, are not permitted to register again on-site. Each eligible entity may only pursue one registration pathway. Entities whose Quad Charts are not selected for an elevator pitch will not be permitted to provide an elevator pitch at AUSA. 

All presentations will be conducted in front of a public audience.

In addition to non-dilutive cash prizes, participants may have the opportunity to engage with U.S. Army and DoD experts attending the 2025 AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition, receiving valuable feedback on their innovations. The efforts described in this notice are being pursued under the authorities of 10 U.S.C. § 4025 to award cash prizes recognizing advanced technology achievements.

While the authority of this program is 10 U.S.C. § 4025, the xTechDisrupt competition may generate interest by another U.S. Army, DoD or United States Government (USG) organization for a funding opportunity outside of this program (e.g., submission of a proposal under a Broad Agency Announcement). The interested organization may contact the participant to provide additional information or ask for a request for proposal in a separate solicitation. Winners of the prize competition may have opportunities to submit a separate proposal for further development of their proposed technology solution based on the needs of the Army. The Army may use a contract mechanism of their choice and will notify the participants accordingly.

The xTech Program is conducted in accordance with 10 U.S.C. § 4025, which authorizes the use of prize competitions to stimulate innovation and identify promising technologies for national security applications. As such, this competition serves as a competitive down select mechanism that enables government organizations to engage with winners through a variety of follow-on acquisition pathways, including but not limited to:

• 10 U.S.C. § 4114 – Selection of contractors for prototype projects
• 10 U.S.C. § 4022 – Prototype projects
• 10 U.S.C. § 4023 – Procurement for experimental purposes
• 10 U.S.C. § 4001 – Research and development
• 10 U.S.C. § 4021 – Other Transaction Authority (OTA)
• 15 U.S.C. § 3703 – Technology innovation partnerships

Government organizations are encouraged to consider leveraging these statutory authorities to pursue follow-on awards with companies identified through the xTech competition process. This approach supports rapid technology maturation, accelerates the transition of innovative capabilities to the field, and promotes collaboration with non-traditional and small business performers.

The xTech Program utilizes the online evaluation and feedback tool, Valid Eval, to accept applications and streamline the evaluation and feedback process. xTech will provide a feedback report to participants following the live pitch event that will be accessible through the tool. These reports are intended to support the potential acceleration of technology transition by offering insights into relevant Army applications, recommendations for refinement to better meet Army needs, and suggested next steps for further development. Please note that while this feedback is provided as a resource, the government may not respond to individual questions or inquiries related to the content of the report.

Topics and Problem Statements

The U.S. Army seeks agile, adaptive and lethal capabilities in support of it’s imperative to “Win at the Pace of Change” across four critical focus areas:

• Topic 1: Electronic Warfare (EW)
• Topic 2: Power Generation / Management / Storage
• Topic 3: Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)
• Topic 4: Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS)

These technologies must enable actionable tactical-level intelligence and operations that empower commanders to understand the environment, assess friendly and adversary systems, mitigate power challenges, optimize the deployment and defeat of UAS technologies, and act decisively.

The U.S. Army must innovate to move faster, decide sooner, and act quicker than adversaries. To meet this requirement, we are seeking technologies that are beyond the concept stage —solutions must be mature, integration-ready, and capable of being demonstrated in a realistic operational environment. Solutions should be able to operate in contested, austere, and dynamic environments, integrate with existing DoD programs of record, and be demonstrable within 30 days in exercises involving U.S. and coalition/partner forces. Technologies must be mature, interoperable, and capable of enhancing decision dominance and operational tempo.

This xTechDisrupt competition is not a venue for early-stage ideas—it’s a platform for deploying near-term capabilities that can immediately support Army experimentation and operational needs.

Topic descriptions can be found in Appendix A of the RFI.

SCHEDULE AND PRIZES

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for this competition, entities must be a small to medium business attending the 2025 AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition (register here) in Washington, D.C. A small to medium business is defined as those with <1,500 employees.

Each eligible entity:

• Must be able to obtain a CAGE code (U.S. businesses) and/or NCAGE code (international businesses) to process payments (CAGE codes are not required during registration);
• Shall be incorporated in, and maintain, a primary place of business in the U.S. or a foreign country;
• May not be a U.S. federal or foreign government entity or employ a U.S. federal employee acting within the scope of their employment;
• May not be a company or person controlled by, funded by, or under the jurisdiction or direction of foreign adversaries; and
• Must not be based in a foreign country of concern (FCOC), directly funded by an FCOC-government or FCOC-government-subsidized guidance fund or be under the influence of an FCOC-based government in any way. Failure to meet these requirements will result in ineligibility for award.

The xTech Program will not provide travel or registration funding for eligible entities to attend the 2025 AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition.