About this episode

Mike Shanley interviews Arthur Grijalva about SpaceWERX's venture model and its impact on defense technology and space warfighting priorities.

Want to know how to break into the U.S. Space Force and scale your technology with over half a billion dollars in annual funding? In this episode, host Mike Shanley sits down with Arthur Grijalva, Director of SpaceWERX, to demystify how the Space Force's innovation arm acts as a venture capital fund to buy down technical risk and field dual-use commercial tech faster. This episode is a must-listen for defense tech CEOs, venture capitalists, and aerospace founders trying to navigate the shifting government R&D landscape. You will learn exactly how to align your commercial capabilities with urgent space warfighting priorities and leverage newly reauthorized strategic breakthrough programs to bridge the valley of death. Main Topics Covered The Venture Capital Model of SpaceWERX: How the organization leverages $500 million annually to buy down risk, accelerate bright ideas, and transition them directly into the hands of warfighters. Navigating the Defense R&D Ecosystem: Understanding the strategic differences and partnerships between SpaceWERX, AFWERX, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Beating the Valley of Death: A case study of…

People in this episode

Host: Mike Shanley

Guest: Arthur Grijalva

Topics covered

• Venture Capital Model
• Defense R&D Ecosystem
• Space Warfighting Priorities
• SBIR/STTR Reauthorization
• Technology Scaling
• Government Funding

Keywords

• SpaceWERX
• U.S. Space Force
• venture capital
• defense technology
• R&D funding
• SBIR
• dual-use technology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SpaceWERX, U.S. Space Force, AFWERX, Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), K2 Space

More episodes of GovDiscovery AI Podcast with Mike Shanley

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• Ep 82: Iain Boyd, Director, Center for National Security Initiatives, University of Colorado-Boulder · June 3, 2026 · 32 min
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