DESCRIPTION

The United States (U.S.) Army would like to invite interested entities to participate in the xTechPrime competition, a forum for eligible small businesses and technology integrators to form teams in order to bring forward innovative technology solutions to solve current Army needs.

A technology integrator is defined for this competition as “any business, outside of the selected small business in Part 1, that has directly worked with the U.S. Government. They have experience managing at least one subcontractor and are responsible for ensuring that the work is completed as defined in the contract. This can include but is not limited to: other small businesses, large businesses, and sole proprietors.”

The xTechPrime competition will challenge small businesses to work together in teams with technology integrators to submit their innovative solutions that contribute to the Army’s current modernization goals. xTechPrime will assist in driving innovation, ultimately delivering novel, and often overlooked, technologies to the Army. Through the xTechPrime competition, the Army is encouraging collaboration between small businesses and technology integrators by providing an opportunity to form teams to compete for non-dilutive cash prizes and, for the original small business applicants, the potential for a Direct to Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract award.

During the competition, small businesses will submit an initial concept white paper during the open submission window for Part 1: Concept White Paper. Proposals will be evaluated by a panel of Army and Department of Defense (DoD) experts and up to 50 small businesses will be selected as winners from Part 1. Winners may receive a cash prize of up to $5,000 and receive an invitation to take part in the xTech Collider Event, hosted by the xTech Program. The collider event will welcome all technology integrators and will be publicized as widely as possible. The event will provide the small business winners from Part 1 and technology integrators a venue to facilitate introductions and conduct a knowledge exchange with the goal of potentially forming teams to compete in Part 2: Technology Pitches. The U.S. government will have no involvement in forming teams or the mechanism by which the entities choose to structure their partnership. The collider event is only intended to facilitate the potential for teaming.

Teams formed from the collider event or outside of the event, will be the only entities invited to conduct a virtual pitch on their technology concept and team ability to a panel of Army and DoD experts during the Part 2: Technology Pitches. Upon conclusion of the pitch event, up to 30 teams will be selected and awarded a cash prize of up to $15,000 each, along with an invitation to participate in Part 3: Finals. Up to 15 teams will be selected as the final competition winners from the Part 3 and will receive an additional cash prize of up to $20,000 each. The original small business applicant from the winning teams from Part 3 will also be given the opportunity to submit a proposal for a potential Direct to Phase II contract valued up to $1.9 million. Additional details on eligibility and the competition structures are listed hereafter.

The efforts described in this notice are being pursued under the authorities of 10 U.S.C. § 4025 (formerly 2374a) and 15 U.S.C. § 638 and 10 U.S.C. § 4022 (Prototype Projects) to award cash prizes and potential SBIR contracts (15 U.S. Code §638) to only those eligible and selected entities as described in this announcement. While the authority of this program is 10 U.S.C. § 4025, the xTechPrime competition may generate interest by another DoD organization for a funding opportunity outside of this program (e.g., submission of a proposal under a Broad Agency Announcement). The interested DoD organization may contact the small business applicant to provide additional information or request a proposal in a separate solicitation.

All xTechPrime competition submissions are treated as privileged information and contents are disclosed to government employees or designated support contractors only for the purpose of evaluation and program support.

Feedback from the judges panel will be provided to the participants throughout each phase of the competition. The purpose of providing this feedback is to help accelerate transition of the technology to an Army end-user by providing insight on best applications for the technology, suggestions for product improvement for Army use and recommended next steps for development. However, the government will not respond to questions or inquiries regarding this feedback.

Army Focus Areas:

xTechPrime is seeking novel, disruptive concepts and technology solutions with dual-use capabilities that can assist in tackling the Army’s current needs and that apply to current Army concepts. The intent is to provide the Army with transformative technology solutions while enabling cost savings throughout the Army systems’ life cycle. The competition is open topic within the following focus areas include: Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML); Autonomy; Climate and Clean Technologies; Immersive/Wearables; and Sensors. See attached document on the Valid Eval registration page for a list of the top Army SBIR Transition Broker Team topic areas.

Technologies that fall exclusively within the portfolio of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command that include military infectious diseases, combat casualty care, military operational medicine, chemical biological defense, and clinical and rehabilitative medicine will be excluded from xTechPrime.

SCHEDULE AND PRIZES

PHASE 1: Concept White Paper- Small Business Submissions Only

Apr 25, 2023 - Jun 7, 2023

Up to 50 Semifinalists

$5K/each

PHASE 2: Virtual Technology Pitches

Oct 30, 2023 - Nov 8, 2023

Up to 30 Finalists

$15K/each

PHASE 3: Finals

Dec 13, 2023 - Dec 18, 2023

Up to 15 Winners

$20K/each

PHASE 4: Request for Direct to Phase II SBIR Proposal

Jan 2, 2024 - Feb 1, 2024

Up to 15 Winners

$1.9M/each

ELIGIBILITY

Eligibility requirements for Part 1 are in place to ensure that prizes go only to small, independent, U.S. businesses.  Restrictions exist about (1) the type of firm, (2) its ownership structure, and (3) the firm’s size in terms of the number of employees, as follows:

1. Type of Firm: an eligible firm must be organized as a for‐profit concern and meet all of the other requirements for a “business concern” in 13 C.F.R. § 3 105.  Non‐profit entities are not eligible.
2. Ownership and Control: A majority (more than 50%) of an eligible firms’ equity (e.g., stock) must be directly owned and controlled by one of the following:
   1. One or more individuals who are citizens or permanent resident aliens of the US.
   2. Other for‐profit small business concerns (each of which is directly owned and controlled by individuals who are citizens or permanent resident aliens of the US).
   3. A combination of (a) and (b) above.

Note:  If an Employee Stock Ownership Plan owns all or part of the concern, each    stock trustee and plan member is considered an owner.  If a trust owns all or part of the concern, each trustee and trust beneficiary is considered an owner.

• Size: An eligible firm, together with the affiliates, must not have more than 500 employees.

The entities allowed to participate in Part 2-3 of the competition must be:

• A small business winner from Part 1: Concept White Paper, and still maintains the eligibility requirements of Part 1 (listed above); and
• Technology integrators, as defined in section I above. A technology integrator may also be a small business applicant from Part 1 that did not get selected to move forward, as long as it meets the definition of a technology integrator. Technology integrators interested in participating in this competition and the collider event can register in advance by visiting the xTechPrime competition tile at: https://www.xtechsearch.army.mil.

During the competition, participants (both small businesses and technology integrators) can submit only one proposal per technology/topic area. For example, if a small business has a capability that aligns to Human Performance, it can partner with a technology integrator that has the same capability set to submit one proposal. If that same small business has another technology solution that aligns with Clean Tech, it can partner with a technology integrator that has Clean Tech capabilities to submit a second proposal. The small business cannot submit two proposals in the Human Performance topic area or two proposals for the CleanTech topic, it can only choose one solution to submit in each topic area. Technologies that fall exclusively within the portfolio of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command that include military infectious diseases, combat casualty care, military operational medicine, chemical biological defense, and clinical and rehabilitative medicine will be excluded from xTechPrime.