The American Dynamism 50

Companies Shaping The Fight Of The Future 🇺🇸 — UNDERDOG ADDITION

A16z recently released their American Dynamism 50. The American Dynamism 50 highlights 50 companies working to deter conflict and strengthen our national resilience. From AI-driven defense to advanced manufacturing and energy innovation, technology is the frontline of global security.

While the list they provided is full of some amazing companies, I couldn’t help but notice a lot of them were their own portfolio companies (~50%). Obviously A16z has backed some incredible companies. However, the list comes off as more of a marketing play/shameless plug.

I decided to highlight companies that are underdogs and not as well funded (some of which include my own). Note — This list only includes 10 companies 😎 🚀

AEON

Team: Naweed Tahmas (CEO)

Location: Austin, Texas

Mission — Developing next-generation tactical weapon systems. [HIRING]

Amidon Heavy Industries

Team: Chris Amidon (CEO)

Location: El Segundo, CA

Mission — Subsea robotics for defense [HIRING]

Astrus

Team: Brad Moon (CEO) & Zeyi Wang (CTO)

Location: Toronto, Canada

Mission — AI to automate analog chip design [HIRING]

Deterrence

Team: Dhruva Rajendra (CEO)

Location: N/A

Mission — Advanced autonomous manufacturing systems for critical energetic components

Durin

Team: Ted Feldmann (CEO)

Location: N/A

Mission — Durin builds and operates automated drill rigs to accelerate mineral discovery. [HIRING]

Empirium

Team: Mike Sims (CEO) & Jarryd Allison (CTO)

Location: San Diego, CA

Mission — Helping allied companies secure their critical supply chains.

Neros

Team: Soren Monroe-Anderson (CEO) & Olaf Hichwa (CTO)

Location: El Segundo, CA

Mission — Next-gen unmanned defense systems for modern battlefields [HIRING]

ODIN DYNAMICS

Team: Amir Khan (CEO)

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Mission — Global deterrence through autonomous maritime systems

ScoutAI

Team: Colby Adcock (CEO) & Collins Otis (CTO)

Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Mission — Autonomous ground vehicles for defense

Vanguard Defense

Team: Johnny Ni (CEO)

Location: Redondo Beach, CA

Mission — Automated labeling platform for custom defense data