Shift Selected for Air Force Strategic "Big Bet" Award

SAN FRANCISCO, May 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Shift, the San Francisco based technology company redefining career change for military talent, has been tentatively selected as one of the first companies to receive the US Air Force's Strategic Fund Increase (STRATFI) award.

The award will allow Shift to open its industry immersion program, called the AFVentures Fellowship, to over 1,000 Department of Defense personnel over the next four years as well as expand to new industry verticals, extend to new technology hubs beyond Silicon Valley, and integrate emerging business and technology focus areas like venture capital, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and logistics.

Last year, Shift was awarded a contract to develop the Fellowship through the Air Force's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The Fellowship is designed to provide Air Force personnel with valuable upskilling experiences through short-term immersive fellowships at leading technology and venture capital firms. Currently, Air Force personnel are competitively selected for the Fellowship and then matched with venture capital and startup organizations for an immersive experience using Shift's proprietary algorithms and technology.

"The Air Force recognizes that in order to be a leader in research and development, it has to have a technologically proficient workforce," said Mike Slagh, the Navy veteran CEO and founder of Shift. "The AFVentures Fellowship was designed to develop and retain the top talent the Air Force needs to achieve its mission, as well as develop meaningful, personal relationships across industry. The STRATFI expansion will allow us to extend this opportunity across the Department of Defense."

Dr. William Roper, the Air Force Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, announced the awards in March, saying the 21 companies who had been selected for the STRATFI award represented the Air Force's "big bets" on startups who can "catalyze the commercial market." "I'm here today to tell you that launching AFVentures and making this successful is the most important thing we're going to do," said Roper. "If we're not working with the best innovators in the world, then we will lose the technology advantage that we have. Getting this right is not just innovation, it is imperative."

The Air Force's SBIR program awards about $1 Billion per year to small businesses to fund critical "dual use" technologies (commercial technology with military applications) for the warfighter, with the STRATFI awards comprising about $550M of that amount.

The most recent cohort of AFVentures Fellows concluded in March and were hosted by leading venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Lux Capital, technology startups like Terminal and Expanse, venture studios like Atomic and Expa, and investors including Emerson Collective and Dave Morin. Fellows produced incredible value through prospective government go-to-market strategies for portfolio companies, research on specific emerging technologies, and diligence for newly-proposed initiatives or projects being incubated by their host organizations.

About Shift.org

Shift prepares military talent to thrive in modern companies.
For the past three years, Shift has been helping the nation's veterans navigate career change as they transition to civilian life. Shift's technology platform uses proprietary algorithms to analyze military skills and experiences and match them with companies who are looking for comparative skills and abilities in the private sector. Shift is a veteran owned technology company backed by world-class investors like Andreessen Horowitz and was recognized as one of Fast Company's "Most Innovative Companies" in 2019. For more information, visit https://www.shift.org

SOURCE Shift.org, Inc