The US Department of the Army is trying to raise $50m to $100m to invest in startups, according to its new head of strategic investments.
Jake Chapman, managing director of the Army Venture Capital Corporation (AVCC) since September, told news provider FedScoop he was working to get funding from Congress. AVCC was created by Congress in 2002 but been without funding for the past decade.
“I think our organisation can play in that liminal space where there is a working product, and there is a buyer but most [venture capital firms] won’t touch the company, but we could step in and say alright we will bridge you for the next 18 months to two years until that contract comes through,” Chapman told FedScoop.
In addition to bridge funding, Chapman said he wanted the AVCC to focus on deterring adversarial capital from funds with ties to countries like China and Russia.
The US Department of Defense has put in place a variety of programs to bring on board startups, according to TechCrunch.
