US DoD and Small Business Administration Initiative Pairs Private Capital With Loans to Boost Critical Tech Investment

Insider Brief

• The Small Business Investment Company Critical Technology (SBICCT) Initiative is designed to increase private capital investment in critical technologies that strengthen our economic and national security.
• The initiative will pair private capital with federally-guaranteed loans to increase investment in DoD’s critical technology areas.
• It’s a joint effort between the SBA and the Department of Defense (DoD).

PRESS RELEASE — Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman announced the rollout of the Small Business Investment Company Critical Technology (SBICCT) Initiative, a joint effort between the SBA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to increase private capital investment in critical technologies that strengthen our economic and national security.

SBICCT is the first initiative under the historic SBA-DoD partnership, launched by the Secretary and the Administrator in December 2022, to grow private sector investment in component-level technologies and production processes vital to US national security interests.

Specifically, the SBICCT Initiative will pair private capital with federally-guaranteed loans to increase investment in DoD’s critical technology areas. The DoD’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) and the SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation (OII) will execute this partnership, coupling the SBA’s experience executing its established and highly successful Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program with the DoD’s robust scientific and technical expertise and national security mission.

“To maintain our competitive advantage, the United States must continue to harness its unmatched strengths — its private capital markets, national security supplier base, and vibrant technological ecosystem. In alignment with the National Defense Strategy, the SBICCT Initiative will further enable DoD to work with both government and the private sector to build enduring advantages for the warfighter and for the taxpayer,” Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said.

The SBICCT Initiative will demonstrate the power of public-private partnerships to grow and modernize our national security supplier base, strengthening our enduring national and economic security.

For more information on the SBICCT Initiative and application criteria, please visit the SBA website.

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