Scalebridge Labs, Silicon Catalyst Initiative

ScaleBridge Labs and Silicon Catalyst Launch National Initiative to Accelerate Semiconductor Innovation for the Defense Industry

Collaboration to enable dual-use semiconductor startups to access government markets and scale technologies vital to U.S. national security

Dayton, OH, and Silicon Valley, CA, March 9, 2026 — ScaleBridge Labs (SBL), the venture lab powered by MMEC, and Silicon Catalyst, the world’s only accelerator focused on the global semiconductor industry, today announced a strategic collaboration aimed at accelerating the transition of commercial semiconductor innovation into the U.S. Defense Industrial Base (DIB).

The Midwest Microelectronics Consortium (MMEC) leads the acceleration of microelectronic technologies and delivers solutions to establish a trusted and resilient domestic supply chain. The MMEC is the premier collaborative, public-private ecosystem that engages broadly across innovative partners from industry, academia, and government to rapidly advance defense and commercial applications. This unique environment empowers members to discover new technologies, share capabilities, develop a skilled workforce, and launch groundbreaking innovation into scalable commercial production for the benefit of national security and economic dominance.

The collaboration addresses a growing national priority:

ensuring that promising U.S. microelectronics companies rapidly scale into defense and national security markets

While many semiconductor startups originate in commercial sectors such as AI, edge computing, communications, and sensing, few are structured to navigate government procurement, defense partnerships, or federal funding pathways. The collaboration between ScaleBridge Labs and Silicon Catalyst creates a coordinated pathway designed to help these companies establish government-focused lines of business while continuing to scale commercially.

Silicon Catalyst offers a comprehensive semiconductor accelerator ecosystem, providing access to Strategic Partners, investors, along with technical and business advisors. ScaleBridge Labs contributes a defense-aligned venture infrastructure embedded within MMEC, one of eight regional hubs established under the CHIPS and Science Act’s Microelectronics Commons program.

Together, the organizations will provide semiconductor startups with structured access to:

· Defense market entry and acquisition pathways, including SBIR, OTA, and Phase III programs
· Strategic partnerships with defense primes and system integrators
· Non-dilutive federal funding opportunities and mission-aligned capital
· Infrastructure and ecosystem resources through Silicon Catalyst’s and MMEC’s national microelectronics networks

The result is a streamlined bridge between commercial innovation and national security adoption.

“Many of the technologies that will define the next generation of national security capabilities are being developed by commercially focused semiconductor startups,” said Paul Colestock, Director of Commercial Innovation, ScaleBridge Labs. “Our goal is to make it dramatically easier for those companies to engage with the defense ecosystem while continuing to scale in global markets.”

Silicon Catalyst leaders said the collaboration reflects increasing recognition that semiconductor innovation must be supported by coordinated national infrastructure.

“Semiconductors sit at the center of economic competitiveness and national security,” said David Dwelley, Managing Partner, Silicon Catalyst. “By aligning commercial semiconductor incubation with a defense-focused venture platform, this initiative helps ensure that breakthrough U.S. technologies can transition into mission-critical systems faster and more reliably.”

Industry participants also see the collaboration as a meaningful step toward strengthening the domestic semiconductor ecosystem.

“Bridging commercial semiconductor innovation with defense deployment has historically been difficult,” said Cormac Conroy, CEO of TeraSpatial. “Connecting commercial innovation with national security missions helps companies like TeraSpatial rapidly transition dual-use technologies into real-world defense deployment.”

“Programs like this are critical to growing the next generation of suppliers to the Defense Industrial Base,” added Kevin Yoder, CEO, Niobium Microsystems. “By lowering barriers for dual-use companies to engage with government customers, the initiative strengthens both innovation and supply chain resilience.”

As global semiconductor competition intensifies, the collaboration between ScaleBridge Labs and Silicon Catalyst represents a scalable model for accelerating domestic microelectronics innovation into production, deployment, and long-term industrial capability.

Stop by GOMACTech 2026

MMEC and ScaleBridge Labs will be exhibiting at GOMACTech 2026, March 9-12, (Booth #401) in New Orleans and look forward to connecting with partners across government, industry, and the defense innovation ecosystem.

Daniel Bailey, Head of Operations at ScaleBridge Labs, will participate in a panel hosted by IQT and Intel Capital on Tuesday, March 10, from 3:30–5:00 PM titled “Accelerating Innovation and Scaling Dual-Use Technologies.” The session will explore how investors are approaching defense and government markets, emerging trends in dual-use funding, and practical lessons for scaling companies that serve both commercial and federal customers. The discussion will bring together government leaders, early-stage startups, and defense industrial base stakeholders to examine how accelerators and investors can help bridge the gap between commercial innovation and national security missions.

If you are attending GOMACTech, stop by Booth #401 to meet the team and learn more about how ScaleBridge Labs is helping grow the next generation of microelectronics companies supporting the U.S. defense industrial base.

About ScaleBridge Labs

ScaleBridge Labs is the nation’s venture lab dedicated to accelerating dual-use microelectronics companies into the U.S. defense industrial base. Operated by the Midwest Microelectronics Consortium (MMEC), ScaleBridge Labs identifies, incubates, and scales high-impact startups developing critical technologies—from AI hardware and advanced sensors to edge computing, quantum systems, and secure communications. Through its incubator and accelerator programs, ScaleBridge Labs provides founders with access to capital, infrastructure, strategic partners, and government transition pathways that help bridge the gap between commercial innovation and national security missions. By enabling the next generation of microelectronics companies to scale and deploy their technologies, ScaleBridge Labs is strengthening America’s technological leadership and the resilience of the defense industrial base. Details at www.scalebridgelabs.com.

About Silicon Catalyst “it’s about what’s next®”

Silicon Catalyst is the only accelerator focused on the Global Semiconductor Industry including Chips, Chiplets, Materials, IP and Silicon fabrication-based Photonics, MEMS, Sensors, Life Science and Quantum. More than 1,500 startup companies worldwide have engaged with Silicon Catalyst, and the company has admitted over 150 exciting companies. With a world-class network of mentors to advise startups, Silicon Catalyst is helping new semiconductor companies address the challenges in moving from idea to realization. The accelerator supplies startups with access to design tools, silicon devices, networking, and a path to funding, banking and marketing acumen to successfully launch and grow their company’s novel technology. Details at www.siliconcatalyst.com.

Contact Information:

Silicon Catalyst LLC

Richard Curtin, Managing Partner, richard@siliconcatalyst.com

SiliconCatalyst.UK & SiliconCatalyst.EU

Sean Redmond, President, sean@siliconcatalyst.uk

Silicon Catalyst Israel

Danny Biran, Managing Partner, danny@siliconcatalyst.com

Moshe Zalcberg, Managing Partner, moshe@siliconcatalyst.com

Silicon Catalyst Japan

Paul Pickering, Managing Partner, paul@siliconcatalyst.com

SiliconCatalyst.AU

James Lougheed, Managing Partner, james@siliconcatalyst.com

Silicon Catalyst Angels

Laura Swan, VP Operations, laura@siliconcatalystangels.com

Silicon Catalyst Ventures

Laura Swan, General Partner, laura@sicatalystvc.com

Thank You for Making the 2025

MMEC Annual Member Meeting a Success!

Dear MMEC Members,

On behalf of the entire MMEC team, thank you for being part of our 2025 Annual Member Meeting. Your engagement, questions, and collaborative spirit made this year’s gathering our most impactful yet. The energy across all sessions truly reflected our shared commitment to strengthening the U.S. microelectronics ecosystem.

A Special Thank You to Our Speakers & Panelists

We couldn’t have done it without the exceptional keynote speakers and panelists who shared their expertise, insight, and real-world experience. Their contributions elevated the conversation, sparked new ideas, and provided valuable direction for where the microelectronics community is headed. We extend our sincere appreciation for the time and knowledge they brought to the MMEC stage.

Meeting Highlights

Here are just a few of the standout moments from this year’s event:

Inspiring Keynotes: Thoughtful perspectives from government, industry, and academic leaders on the future of microelectronics, national security, and domestic manufacturing.

Panel Discussions: Engaging with the leading minds in industry, government and academia to provide insight into the microelectronics ecosystem.

Working Group Discussions: Robust dialogue in our technology-area working groups, with the development of next steps for collaboration and project capture.

ScaleBridge Labs Team Pitches: A dynamic set of early-stage companies took the stage to share breakthrough concepts, dual-use technologies, and commercialization pathways. We are excited about the growing role ScaleBridge Labs will have in accelerating innovation and investment.

Networking & Collaboration: New connections, new teaming opportunities, and follow-on conversations that will continue well beyond the meeting. Thank you to our two networking reception sponsors: JobsOhio https://www.jobsohio.com and The Uhl Agency https://www.uhlagency.com

MMEC Awards

We wanted to highlight some of the outstanding performances of the past year so we introduced the MMEC “M.E.” Awards to promote the excellence of our members in a number of categories. Congratulations to the winners:

Excellence in Execution: WMSDR Project Team – Lockheed Martin, University of Dayton, Intel, Indiana Micro, Purdue University, CapV, & 3DGlass

Rising Star Award: FabuBlox

Warfighter Award: Lockheed Martin Mission & Fire Control

Mission Champion Award: GaN Prototype Challenge Team – Northrop Grumman, CA DREAMS, MMEC

ACE Working Group Award: EO/IR Working Group

ScaleBridge Pitch Session Award: FALCOMM

Internship Award: Kapil Krishna

Looking Ahead to Next Year

We’re already taking the information we have learned though our discussions with you and building on the momentum from this year’s meeting. Next year, you can expect a broader look towards a wider range of opportunities, more member driven content, ways to build stronger connections, and deeper dives into technology areas and mission needs.

Let Us Know What You Think

The MMEC works for the benefit of our members and we want to make sure we are providing you with the opportunities, information, and collaboration you need to be successful. If you would like to provide feedback about the 2025 Annual Meeting we have created a short survey so we can get your input about how next year’s meeting can be even more beneficial.

survey

Lastly, we are providing the slides from the Annual Meeting – due to security and confidentiality concerns, these slides do not include any keynote, panelist, or project slides and just contain the MMEC slides

meeting slides

Thank you again for your continued partnership and for the work you do every day to advance our shared mission. We’re grateful to have you in the MMEC ecosystem and excited about what we’ll accomplish together in the year ahead.

Thank You,

The MMEC Team

Quantum computing is changing security fast. Replacing every device isn’t realistic—but PROTECT makes post-quantum security possible on the hardware you already have. MMEC Trust and Assurance Manager, Matt Areno,  has written a compelling abstract discussing this topic.

Abstract: The advent of post-quantum computing is impacting organizations across the globe in significant ways. Whether it is a manufacturer trying to integrate and deploy new algorithms or a customer attempting to meet critical milestones in adopting post-quantum security devices, the struggle is rea. There is a path to post-quantum security that does not require replacing all your existing products. In this post, we cover the PROTECT solution, a technology that enables a post-quantum secure boot. Through a novel approach to secure boot, this technology can provide post-quantum security to both existing and future device, thereby preventing unnecessary hardware replacement and significantly reducing costs.

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