AtomBeam Lands 2 DoD Contracts Worth Over $1.3 Million

AtomBeam landed two major contracts with the Space Force and Air Force in the latest win for the revolutionary data compression startup.

You often see supporters of stocks claiming the company is “going to the moon,” but it looks like data compression and IoT startup, AtomBeam, might literally be going there (or space, anyway) with their latest update. The company has long noted deals with the Department of Defense (DoD), but it seems the company has officially been awarded roughly $1.33 million in DoD non-dilutive funding to advance its data compression technology. The contracts are with the United States Air Force and the United States Space Force and will be performed over the next 3 to 24 months for various data compression needs. The Space Force contract will be used to help increase bandwidth in satellites, and the Air Force contract will be used for things like LiDAR.

What is DARPA and the SBIR?

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program falls under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and these essentially operate as the research branch of the DoD and other government agencies. The SBIR specifically targets smaller businesses, like AtomBeam, to help encourage innovation all over the country and help smaller businesses participate in these deals with the government, encourage competition, and more. These contracts are awarded in three phases:

• Phase 1: Feasibility

• Phase 2: Research and Development

• Phase 3: Commercialization

Here, AtomBeam received both a Phase 1 and a Phase 2 contract and hopes to submit another contract upon completion of the phase 1 contract with the Air Force for a phase 2 contract. The standard for approval of a phase 2 contract is either completion of a phase 1 contract and a determination of feasibility by the agency, or the agency can skip the phase 1 contract if the “proposer can provide adequate documentation to substantiate that the scientific and technical merit and feasibility described in the Phase I section of the topic has been met and describes the potential commercial applications.”

In normal people's language, it just means AtomBeam provided enough reputable documentation to prove feasibility.

What does this mean for AtomBeam investors?

AtomBeam is a well-known company in the equity crowdfunding space and has raised millions of dollars from thousands of supporters. As such, this is definitely great news for all investors. Not only is this $1.33 million in revenue for the company, but if it is successful, it will undoubtedly establish legitimacy and feasibility for the company. This comes off the heels of a number of successes recently, including getting into NewChip, a highly acclaimed, world-renowned accelerator, and landing a letter of intent from a major satellite operator. This will help justify higher valuations in the future, sustain the company with funding, and add legitimacy to the product to help land future contracts.