The Department of Defense’s Office of Strategic Capital has released a strategy that identifies and prioritizes investment areas for OSC’s credit-based financial products.
DOD said Thursday the Fiscal Year 2025 Investment Strategy integrates new authorities, establishes a framework to optimize capital allocations, defines arenas of strategic competition and identifies areas of particular interest for OSC investments.
“This Investment Strategy will ensure that we continue to build the foundation for ongoing technological leadership, economic strength, and American security,” said Lloyd Austin, secretary of DOD and a three-time Wash100 awardee.
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Industry Segments of Particular Interest
The document has identified 15 industry segments of particular interest for OSC’s credit program: advanced bulk materials; advanced manufacturing; autonomous mobile robots; battery storage; biochemicals; bioenergetics; biomass; hydrogen generation and storage; microelectronics assembly, testing and packaging; microelectronics manufacturing equipment; microelectronics materials; nanomaterials and metamaterials; sensor hardware; spacecraft; and synthetic biology.
According to DOD, these segments comprise a subset of 31 covered technologies categories, or CTCs, where OSC will place focus for its credit-based financial products.
Key Arenas of Strategic Competition
The new strategy provides a framework that classifies national security impacts aligned to three core arenas of strategic competition: near-term control over chokepoints in economic networks; medium-term leadership within key industries; and long-term development of critical technologies.
“The OSC FY25 Investment Strategy provides an overarching framework as the office deploys its federal credit tools to build enduring advantages for our nation,” said Heidi Shyu, under secretary of defense for research and engineering.
“With the Investment Strategy as a guide, OSC investments will help reduce vulnerabilities to economic chokepoints, support the production of key industrial capabilities, and lead the development of next generation critical technologies,” added Shyu, a four-time Wash100 Award recipient.
In line with the release of the strategy, OSC’s application window for equipment finance loans opened on Thursday, Jan. 2, and will run through Feb. 3.
What Is OSC?
In December 2022, Austin formed OSC to help attract and scale private capital for national security priorities.
The following year, Congress enacted the office into law through the FY 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, authorizing OSC to provide loans, loan guarantees and technical assistance to eligible companies and other entities working in 31 CTCs listed in statute.
In late September, OSC issued its first notice of funding availability as part of efforts to finance companies’ equipment needs.
In line with the release of the new strategy, the office’s application window for equipment finance loans opened on Thursday, Jan. 2, and will run through Feb. 3.