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Our Story
DKS co-founders met through FedTech in 2019. This is a program designed to match federally funded technologies with people with business experience looking to lead new ventures.
Radioisotopic Power Sources was the number one choice type of project when the technology list became available.
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2019
MARCH - MAY
The DKS team gets together, starts market validation, and is voted best pitch.
For the duration of the FedTech program, the team completed a customer discovery, validated the existence of a market for the technology.
2019
JUNE
DKS wins 'Off the Grid' Hackathon
Through participation in the FedTech program, DKS won the first prize at a National Security Innovation Network-sponsored hackathon.
The prize consisted of a contract for customer discovery worth $30,000. This was the first capital infusion for the company, and the moment it was decided to incorporate Direct Kinetic Solutions (DKS).
For the next year, the DKS team decided to further focus on proving the concept, securing the necessary pieces to ensure the technology was scalable and could be improved upon, and gained traction in the startup community being part of the MassChallenge Houston cohort and securing valuable advisors along the way.
It was also in 2020 when the company won its first Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the Air Force, as well as being selected for the xTechSearch competition, winning a second SBIR with the Army, and also securing a $340,000 contract to do follow-on work from the hackathon customer discovery engagement.
On the team side, DKS secured the help from Dr. Johnny Russo and William Ray, co-authors of the base patent, as well as the continued collaboration of Dr. Marc litz through the beginning of a negotiation of a Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Army Research Labs (ARL).
2020
APRIL
Air Force SBIR Phase I:
Extend the life of current Asset Management Tags
The company won its first Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with the Air Force.
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The Air Force contracted DKS to extend the life of its GPS labels to at least a decade, a perfect use case for our technology.
2020
JULY
xTechSearch SBIR Phase 1
DKS gets the opportunity to design a communications device and try to apply the technology on complex systems.
2020
JULY
Di2O AFFOA Contract
This contract is a follow-up to the NSIN Customer Discovery and allows for a space device.
2020
2020
AUGUST
Mass Challenge Houston Cohort
DKS was selected to participate in the prestigious accelerator developing a robust network, improving its pitch, and securing mentors and advisors along the way.
In 2021, the company won the Paris Space Week innovation Challenge was invited to become part of the Capital Factory Ventures family and was selected as a Deep Tech Pioneer by Hello Tomorrow.
On top of that, it signed another SBIR with the Air Force, and its largest contract to date, an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) with the National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) a part of the Defense Innovation Unit.
Along with these wins, DKS also formalized its CRADA and secured licensing agreement with ARL, added David Scott to its Board of Directors, and became recognized as a Top 20 Most Innovative Battery Company in Texas.
All of the work and achievements from 2021 have set the groundwork for the company to have fully functioning devices powered by its products by the summer of 2023.
2021
FEBRUARY
Winners at Paris Space Week
The company participated and won in the Space Innovation Challenge.
2021
AUGUST
Joins the Capital Factory Portfolio
DKS becomes part of Capital Factory portfolio companies to gain access to startup community and unlock Investment opportunities.
2021
NOVEMBER
ARL License Agreement
DKS further cements its relationship with ARL and ensures leading R&D will continue.
2021
NOVEMBER
AFWERX Phase 1
A second Air Force opportunity to find and develop customers and use cases for the technology.
2021
A second Air Force opportunity to find and develop customers and use cases for the technology.
2021
NOVEMBER
Deep Tech Pioneer
The company is recognized as a Deep Tech Pioneer and invited to participate in the Paris event.
All of the work and achievements from 2021 have set the groundwork for the company to have fully functioning devices powered by its products by the summer of 2023.
2022
JANUARY
Partnership with NSIC
DKS secures a contract with the Defense Innovation Unit via its National Security Innovational Capital group to power and create several sensing devices.
JANUARY
2022
JANUARY
South by South West
Participate in ZenBusiness Startup Crawl as one of the Capital Factory Portoflio companies.
2022
APRIL
Vertex
Participate of this symposium on next-gen power intelligence for the U.S. Army Futures Command.
JANUARY
2022
SEPTEMBER
Fed Supernova
Participate in Fed Supernova with Capital Factory in this event about the field of Defense Innovation.
2022
OCTOBER
DC22 Program
Participate in the Decarbonization Startupbootcamp Australia Program in partnership with Mitsubishi Corporation and NYK Line to advance the technology for clean energy solutions.
JANUARY
2022
DECEMBER
DC22 Demo Day
Participate in DC2022 Demo Day in Tokyo, Japan, as part of Startupbootcamp Australia from our Decarbonize 2022 cohort working to accelerate the path towards energy transition.
2023
MARCH
Forbes 30/50 Summit
COO Joanna Patsalis becomes a Forbes '30 Under 30' honoree, representing DKS in this exclusive International Women's Day event.
2023
APRIL
Foundry Showcase
DKS is selected to pitch during the Foundry Summit in Stockholm, an event focused on solving industrial business needs.
2023
JUNE
NASA SBIR Contract
DKS is awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract with NASA to work on the development of a modular radioisotopic power source (RPS) for small satellites.
2023
AUGUST
Fed Supernova
DKS and TechLink hosted the Tech Transfer Roundtable and sponsored the event's Signature VIP Breakfast as part of the effort to support defense innovation.
2023
SEPTEMBER
Endless Frontier Labs Fall Cohort
DKS joins the Fall cohort of Endless Frontiers, a competitive startup development program led by NYU, which focuses on deep tech, life sciences, and digital tech startups.