Attracting and Scaling Private
Capital for National Security
Attracting and Scaling Private Capital for National Security
OSC develops and implements strategies and partnerships to
accelerate and scale private investment in critical supply chain
technologies needed for national security.
OSC develops and implements strategies and partnerships to accelerate and scale private investment in critical supply chain technologies needed for national security.
Attracting Private Capital to Critical Technologies and Supply Chains
The United States is in a global competition for technological advantage. In that competition, private capital is the dominant source of funding and a key source of U.S. comparative advantage. Yet, some critical technologies and their components attract relatively little private investment and are not always supported by traditional procurement methods for national security needs.
In response, the Secretary of Defense established the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) in December 2022 to attract and scale investment to national security priorities. OSC aims to use the United States’ comparative advantages in capital markets and economic competition to crowd in capital for the critical technology supply chains needed by the Department of Defense.
DoD’s National Defense Science and Technology Strategy specifies 14 Critical Technology Areas vital to national security. By attracting private capital investments into these Critical Technology Areas, OSC seeks to accelerate the development and deployment of technology critical to current and future warfighting capabilities.
While those Critical Technology Areas are the starting point for OSC, investment may occur outside of those Critical Technology Areas so long as it involves supply chain and component-level technologies and processes that enable DoD capabilities but are not always supported through direct procurement.
Active OSC Programs
Small Business Investment Company
Critical Technology Initiative
In partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration and its Small Business Investment Company program (established in 1958), OSC supports the licensing of purpose-built Critical Technology funds that would be eligible to receive loan guarantees for early-stage investments.
“We are in a global competition for leadership in critical technologies, and the Office of Strategic Capital will help us win that competition and build enduring national security advantages. By working with the private capital markets and by partnering with our federal colleagues, OSC will address investment gaps and add a new tool to the Department's investment toolbox."
LLOYD J. AUSTIN III
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
“We must complement the innovative power of the private sector with a modern industrial strategy that makes strategic public investments in America’s workforce, and in strategic sectors and supply chains, especially critical and emerging technologies, such as microelectronics, advanced computing, biotechnologies, clean energy technologies, and advanced telecommunications.”
NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY
“We must complement the innovative power of the private sector with a modern industrial strategy that makes strategic public investments in America’s workforce, and in strategic sectors and supply chains, especially critical and emerging technologies, such as microelectronics, advanced computing, biotechnologies, clean energy technologies, and advanced telecommunications.”
NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY
News & Insights
NEWS RELEASE Mar. 8, 2024
OSC Releases Inaugural FY24 Investment Strategy
The Office of Strategic Capital released its inaugural Investment Strategy, which lays out how it will approach its funding and investment decisions going forward.
NEWS RELEASE Sept. 2, 2023
Department of Defense and Small Business Administration Roll Out the Small Business Investment Company Critical Technologies (SBICCT) Initiative
The Small Business Investment Company Critical Technology (SBICCT) Initiative is a joint effort between the DoD and SBA to increase private capital investment in critical technologies that strengthen U.S. economic and national security.
NEWS RELEASE Aug. 2, 2023
Readout of Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks' and SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman's Meeting With AM Forward Partners
Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman met yesterday at the Pentagon with executives from Lockheed Martin, General Electric, Stifel Financial, and Applied Science & Technology Research Organization (ASTRO) America to discuss President Biden’s AM Forward initiative, share perspectives on collectively advancing critical technology and manufacturing priorities vital to U.S. national security and the potential of SBA’s Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program to help overcome those barriers.
NEWS RELEASE Mar. 7, 2023
Office of Strategic Capital, Small Business Administration to Sign Memorandum of Agreement
DoD’s Office of Strategic Capital and SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation announce their intent to sign a Memorandum of Agreement on March 10 that outlines future OSC and SBA collaboration, including the SBIC Critical Technologies Initiative.
TRANSCRIPT Dec. 8, 2022
Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen H. Hicks Participates in a Fireside Chat at the 2022 Aspen Security Forum D.C. Edition
DOD NEWS Dec. 4, 2022
DOD Scouts Innovative Ideas from Industry, Allies, Partners
The Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve, which was stood up last year, is a collaboration between the military services, combatant commands, industry, and coalition partners with the aim of discovering new and innovative warfighting capabilities. The Office of Strategic Capital will assist in funding companies developing technologies deemed critical to national security.
NEWS RELEASE Dec. 1, 2022
Secretary of Defense Establishes Office of Strategic Capital
SECDEF establishes the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) as a finance organization within the Department of Defense to help the United States build an enduring technological advantage by partnering with private capital providers to accelerate and scale investment in companies developing technologies critical to national security.
DOD NEWS Dec. 1, 2022
New Defense Office Connects Next-Gen Tech Developers with Much-Needed Capital
The Defense Department announced today the creation of the Office of Strategic Capital, or OSC. The new office is meant to ensure that technologies under development right now or in the future, which may be critical to U.S. military requirements, are able to get the funding they need to make it to market.
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