INOV 4010 - The Catalyst Accelerator

The Catalyst Accelerator Program

The Catalyst Accelerator is fully funded through the AFRL/RV. Its purpose is to find innovative technologies being developed by US (primarily) and global startups and small businesses that solve a stated challenge for Air Force/Space Force. While in the program, the Accelerator supports the 6-8 competitively-selected cohort companies by providing connections to Government and Commercial potential partners, customers, users, etc.

Project

At the end of each Catalyst Accelerator, all companies are asked to complete a post-Accelerator survey through SurveyMonkey to gauge their experience and provide feedback. Comprehensive, raw Excel data from 12 Colorado Spring Accelerator Cohorts was supplied to the UCCS team for analysis. Additionally, the Catalyst Accelerator team provided contact information to Accelerator alumni Companies from each cohort for follow up questions from the UCCS team. Further information was captured by the UCCS team while attending the AI/ML

Accelerator. The objective of the UCCS team was to conduct an in-depth analysis of the 12 Colorado Springs Accelerators and discern the trends that appear within the program as a whole. The report discussed trends that emerged in the post-Accelerator data and alumni Economic Impact Reports, successes and missteps, biases exercised by the Accelerator team, impact of program changes, cause and effect relationships and recommendations for the future. The ultimate goal of the analysis was to provide CCTI with actionable insights to enhance future Catalyst Accelerator programming.