Success Stories

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A little over a year after winning first place at the xTech|Live at SOF Week 2025 competition, Icarus has progressed from an idea to full scale prototypes being deployed with Soldiers at recurring Army experimentation events supporting the Multi-Domain Task Forces (MDTFs), U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) and many other joint users. Company leadership says Icarus’ trajectory was accelerated by Army FUZE — including both the Army FUZE xTech and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Programs — and by the Soldiers and operational users whose hands-on engagement has shaped APOLLO, their first product, at every step. 

As military operations demand quick, informed decision-making, the U.S. Army and broader Joint Force are turning to cutting-edge innovators such as Bounce Imaging to equip warfighters with a safer, smarter view of their surroundings.  

Compound Eye, a small business based out of Redwood City, Calif., is leveraging $13 million in Army SBIR CATALYST funding to develop a cutting-edge positioning and navigation tool for U.S. Army Soldiers based off its Visual Inertial Distributed Aperture System (VIDAS).

Speed, precision, and decisive force can determine the difference between mission success and failure.  That’s why enhancing soldier lethality – boosting combat effectiveness – remains a top priority for the U.S. Army.

LiquidPiston, supported by Army innovation programs, is poised to transform the U.S. Army’s capabilities as the company delivers compact, heavy-fuel-capable rotary engines and hybrid electric power systems to Soldiers, setting new standards for power density and performance in military applications.

Reliable position, navigation and timing is essential for U.S. Army Soldiers to safely and effectively maneuver and communicate. TRX Systems, winner of the Army xTech Program’s xTechSearch 3 competition, now fields its technology – the Dismounted PNT System Generation II, also known as DAPS GEN II – as a program of record  for the Army to provide Soldiers a continuous stream of PNT information, even when GPS is unavailable.

Genesis Systems ‑– a finalist in xTechSearch 5 in 2021 and winner of xTechEnergy Resiliency in 2022 – deployed its WaterCube® solution to the U.S. Army in August 2024.

Magnus Metal, first-place winner of xTechInternational Advanced Manufacturing and Materials, is leveraging relationships made during the competition to spearhead further maturation of its novel, automated additive manufacturing technology with the Army. (U.S. Army)

Talus Ridge, winner of xTechSearch 7 in July 2023, has forged connections and new opportunities as a result of the competition to further develop its ballistic carrier system.

ANDRO Computational Solutions, a winner of xTechWaveform in June 2021, conducted live testing with Army stakeholders during summer 2023. The small business will next conduct an air-to-ground demonstration in April 2024 to showcase software-based waveform capabilities in support of communications resiliency.