An Arlington company is putting entrepreneurs and federally funded technology together to build businesses and capitalize on inventions.
Venture studio and accelerator FedTech houses several accelerators and programs aimed at connecting and commercializing innovations in the private and public sectors. That includes the Homeland Security Startup Studio, which pairs technology from universities and federal labs that receive funding from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The tech used in the 18-week program is often related to cybersecurity, drone applications and artificial intelligence, per program manager Robert Wines.
“This is a great engine to bring that R&D forward to realize its full potential,” Wines told Technical.ly. “Specifically for the Department of Homeland Security, there is a massive appetite for innovation and for new technology to address some of their most pressing needs.”
Other programs hosted by FedTech include a studio focused on energy innovation with the Department of Energy, and one concentrated on dual-use technologies. The company also has accelerators in aerospace technology and clean energy.
FedTech’s Homeland Security Startup Studio is set up as a cohort, Wines explained, with 10 teams of three entrepreneurs matched with specific technology. The tech needs to be licensable and developed up to the proof of concept level.
The program, in partnership with DHS, began in 2021 and typically runs from the start of the year to the summer. It just wrapped its fifth iteration in June.
Wines joined FedTech as an intern while studying entrepreneurship at American University in DC. He returned in 2021 as an analyst right as the first cohort ended, and was later promoted to program manager of the studio in 2022.
Tech commercialization with a ‘patriotic’ spin
As the Trump administration makes massive cuts throughout the federal government, some agencies like DHS are receiving an unprecedented amount of funds. Thanks to the “One Big Beautiful Bill” the president signed earlier this month, DHS nabbed $165 billion in appropriations — including funds to ramp up deportations of immigrants.
FedTech will keep “supporting” the “DHS mission,” Wines said at the time of the interview, before the budget bill was introduced. He did not respond to a request for updated comment about how recent actions by the Trump administration affect the Homeland Security Startup Studio.
This program offers participants a network of experts within the federal government and experts in grants and finances, Wines noted.
There’s also a robust alumni network where founders still get access and help to commercialize the technology. Eighteen weeks isn’t long enough to get to that stage, he said, so there’s a need for support after the program ends.
What should applicants show when applying? “Be hungry and have grit,” Wines said. Knowledge of federal government operations is a plus, too.
A passion for the US is also necessary.
“There is certainly, I would argue, a patriotic element to this, to the studio,” Wines said. “We’re not just building technologies to build a great, million-dollar company. We’re not just building these companies just to have fun doing entrepreneurship. We are in the DHS mission space.”
