CATALYST ACCELERATOR SELECTS FIVE COMPANIES FOR ITS FIRST INVESTMENT READINESS BOOT CAMP
New Program Prepares Space and Defense Startups to Scale Through Investment
Colorado Springs, Colorado, Sept. 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Catalyst Accelerator has selected five companies for its inaugural Investment Readiness Boot Camp (CAIRB), a new program designed to help space-based and space-supporting technology companies prepare for investment and position themselves to scale within the space and defense ecosystem.
Unlike the Catalyst Accelerator's traditional programming, which centers on business development and government customer discovery, the Investment Readiness Boot Camp is built for pre-Series A companies that have little to no investment traction, are ready to pursue investment, and need support building a strategic plan to get there.
Selected companies will take part in programming covering investment readiness and strategy, financial planning, scaling strategies, and pitch development, along with "Art of the Possible: Founders Supporting Founders" sessions. Participants will also have access to investor presentations and one-on-one meetings with investment firms throughout the program.
Allison Boothe, Program Manager of the Catalyst Accelerator, shared her enthusiasm for the new program: "We're thrilled to welcome these companies into our inaugural Investment Readiness Boot Camp. It means a great deal to have several of our alumni companies rejoining us, and we're just as excited to welcome two new companies into the Accelerator community. Together, this cohort represents exactly the kind of talent and ambition this program was built to support."
CAIRB will run October 12 to 23, 2026, held in person at Catalyst Campus for Technology and Innovation (CCTI) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The program will conclude with a Company Showcase event on October 22.
Following a competitive application and downselect process, the following five companies have been selected for the inaugural CAIRB cohort:
Arkwright Space: At Arkwright Space, we build Physical AI for Space: intelligent robots that inspect, repair, and manufacture in orbit, so critical infrastructure keeps working at the point of need and high-value assets can maneuver without regret. Our first product, Horus, is a dual-use, free-flying orbital drone for proximity operations that docks with the assets it serves, diagnoses damage on its own with no ground link and returns to its host to be serviced and upgraded, with defense applications such as secure local micro data centers. We are a Purdue University spin-off flying our first payload in 2027 on the road to autonomous in-space servicing, assembly, and manufacturing of electronics. Our mission is to accelerate humanity's ability to build, operate, and thrive in space.
Continuum Resources: Continuum Resources is a WOSB/EDWOSB-certified defense technology company with 8+ years of experience delivering mission-critical AI, software, engineering, cybersecurity, and professional education across the national-security ecosystem. Continuum supports Space Systems Command through KBR on the MSEIT program, leads AI efforts within that mission, and serves as a prime contractor to the Missile Defense Agency on SHIELD. We turn firsthand experience solving complex defense missions into proprietary, deployable technologies, including STRATUM, an AI-powered decision-support platform designed to make Analysis of Alternatives and engineering trade studies faster, more rigorous, and auditable. Continuum is building a portfolio of secure AI and software products that transform how defense organizations analyze information, make decisions, and execute critical missions.
https://continuumresourcesllc.com/
Little Place Labs: Little Place Labs delivers near-real-time space insights for dual-use applications by bringing AI to space. Through Orbitfy, our orchestration layer for orbital infrastructure, we turn fragmented satellites, compute, and sensors into a single, federated network. We work with constellation operators and government, defense, and commercial customers to deliver insights that no single satellite or sensor can produce alone, with our technology already proven through multiple in-orbit demonstrations. Our work has been recognized by The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, SXSW, and other leading technology and industry platforms.
Spectronn: Spectronn is building the cognitive nervous system for a world where autonomous systems must think, adapt, and decide with precision and trustworthiness — across every domain, from global commerce to national security. MOSAIC, our breakthrough causal multi-agent AI platform, reasons through uncertainty, eliminates hallucination, and delivers mission-grade decisions at machine speed, while reducing compute requirements by orders of magnitude. Powered by MOSAIC, MaritimeIQ delivers unprecedented situational intelligence across the world's oceans, protecting commercial shipping lanes, port infrastructure, and naval operations from emerging threats in real time. Spectronn is forging the autonomous cognitive infrastructure that will secure global commerce, protect critical assets, and define the battlespaces of tomorrow.
Tempest Droneworx: Tempest Droneworx builds collaborative decision environments that transform overwhelming operational data into coordinated action. As AI creates more data, the limiting factor is no longer collecting information - it's understanding it. Tempest Droneworx addresses this problem through its flagship platform, Harbinger™, a modular, vendor-agnostic geospatial mission command and decision environment. Consisting of four interchangeable functions, Harbinger™ agnostically integrates disparate sensors, autonomously directs heterogeneous fleets of UxVs, orchestrates AI algorithms, and transforms complex data into contextual 3D visualizations. Our platform is built for organizations that protect lives, secure critical assets, and make high-consequence decisions in rapidly changing environments - this includes defense organizations, state and local governments, and critical infrastructure operators that rely on timely, accurate situational awareness. Because our products are modular and sensor-agnostic, the same platform can be rapidly configured for multiple mission sets, enabling us to scale across adjacent markets while leveraging a common technology foundation.
About Catalyst Accelerator
The Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate and United States Space Force's Catalyst Accelerator is a space-focused defense and national security industry accelerator, headquartered on the Catalyst Campus for Technology and Innovation (CCTI) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. CCTI is a collaborative ecosystem where industry, small business, entrepreneurs, startups, government, academia, and investors intersect with Colorado's aerospace and defense industry to create community, spark innovation, and stimulate business growth. The Catalyst Accelerator is a collaborative program hosted by Catalyst Campus for Technology and Innovation (CCTI, a Colorado 501(c)3) in partnership with the United States Space Force, and the Air Force Research Laboratory to provide a robust, mentor-driven curriculum for accelerator teams.
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Allison Boothe Catalyst Accelerator 719-749-8601 Allison.Boothe@CatalystCampus.Org
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