The Defense Innovation Unit and the Department of Defense participated in the second India-United States Defense Acceleration Ecosystem Summit.
The event, also attended by representatives from the Indian Ministry of Defense, was held in New Delhi from Feb. 21 to 22.
“A stronger international community of defense innovation entities among allies and partners can enhance best practices for harnessing and sharing commercial technology solutions,” said Doug Beck, director of DIU.
The event is part of INDUS-X, an agreement between American and Indian governments to foster collaboration between defense companies and advance shared national security interests.
At the latest summit, a panel expanded on the agenda of the original INDUS-X agreement established in June 2023, including cooperating on research and development efforts, strengthening defense industrial partnerships, mobilizing private capital to fund the production of critical technologies, and commercializing dual-use innovation.
DIU also announced the 10 winners of the first two INDUS-X joint challenges.
The winning startups received over $1 million in funding to continue developing their underwater communication and maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technologies to solve DOD and MoD problems.