WASHINGTON, DC (October 16, 2020) – The U.S. Army announced the winner of the fourth xTechSearch competition at the AUSA NOW! virtual conference on Oct. 15, 2020.
Vita Inclinata Technologies based out of Broomfield, Colorado took the top prize of $250,000 for their load stability system. Their technology is a platform agnostic suspended load stabilizer for helicopter rescue operations, that autonomously stabilizes all spin and swing that a suspended load undergoes.
"xTechSearch enables a vehicle for small companies like Vita Inclinata Technologies to execute our mission within the United States Army; to build technology that brings people home every time. Winning the xTechSearch 4 competition provides Vita the visibility and awareness that will only accelerate the ability for Vita to provide our life-saving technology to the warfighter,” explains Caleb Carr, president, Vita Inclinata Technologies.
The xTechSearch competition, sponsored by the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) also known as ASA(ALT), started in 2018 as an open topic competition providing small business innovators with an opportunity to showcase their technology solutions to experts across the Army, all while winning prize money along the way.
HON Bruce Jette (ASA (ALT)), stated during the award ceremony live at AUSA NOW! “The xTechSearch 4 competition started with 351 applicants and after 1 year we are down to 10 finalists who demonstrated their impressive technologies over the past two days. I hope many of you had a chance to watch the demonstrations which can be found on the xTechSearch YouTube channel. All of the demonstrations were exceptional and demonstrate the success of this prize competition model. I congratulate you all for your stellar achievements and hope you continue to engage with the Army to deliver these capabilities to our Soldiers. “
A panel of subject matter experts from the Army, judge the xTechSearch companies through four phases of the competition and provide feedback on their technologies and potential Army use cases. This feedback combined with the technology and business accelerator cohorts the finalists participate in help to de-mystify working with the Army and make valuable connections to Army personnel.
“The demonstration of the dual use technologies presented by all ten of the xTechSearch 4 finalist companies was impressive and points to the substantial advances in design and function that can be realized when the defense and commercial sectors join forces,” explained one of the finalist judges, COL Beth Sweet, Army Engagement Lead, Defense Innovation Unit
Visit the xTech website (www.xtechsearch.army.mil) to learn more about other ongoing and past Army prize competitions. The next open topic competition, xTechSearch 6, is scheduled to launch in March 2021 and will be open to all US-based small businesses.
The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics & Technology) provides the American Soldier with a decisive advantage in any mission by developing, acquiring, fielding, and sustaining the world's finest equipment and services; and by leveraging technologies and capabilities to meet current and future Army needs.
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