Posted By: Scott Fetters
Frontier Mission Network, a Chicago-based nonprofit initiative dedicated to advancing dual-use defense technology ventures, has been awarded support through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s prestigious Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC). The $75,000 award was received by 2112, Chicago’s first incubator for creative industries, which is guiding the buildout of Frontier Mission Network.
The GAFC award recognizes organizations that foster inclusive entrepreneurship, support innovation, and accelerate the growth of emerging technology ecosystems. Frontier Mission Network will use the funding to expand programming that helps researchers, entrepreneurs, and startups bring critical technologies from the lab to the marketplace in service of U.S. national security.
“Chicago’s creative sector has become a proving ground for technologies that increasingly have dual-use impact, from immersive media and advanced audio systems to interactive design tools that translate seamlessly from entertainment to defense applications," said Scott Fetters, Director of 2112. "These are areas where our region excels, and where innovation often moves fastest. By supporting Frontier Mission Network, we’re helping ensure that Chicago’s innovators have the resources, partnerships, and guidance they need to move critical ideas from concept to impact.”
“While we are thankful for this award from the SBA, we understand that it is not success in and of itself,” said Thomas Day, Executive Director of Frontier Mission Network. “Rather this an investment and an opportunity for Chicago’s innovation community to build a lab-to-market process focused on solving national security challenges and strengthening America’s defense. We take our obligations to the SBA very seriously, and we committed to engaging stakeholders across our city — researchers, entrepreneurs, corporate and civic partners, capital investors — and connecting with Pentagon program officers to bridge the gap between Chicago’s innovation community and America’s warfighters.”
Frontier Mission Network will use the award to host seminars, help local startups commercialize innovations from Chicago’s research institutions, and assist entrepreneurs competing for Department of Defense research and development grants.
