The Department of Defense (DoD) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently approved the first group of Small Business Investment Company Licensees and Green Light Approved investment funds under the Small Business Investment Company Critical Technology (SBICCT) Initiative.
The goal of the initiative is to attract and scale private investment into technology areas critical to economic and national security. The first group plans to collectively invest more than $2.8 billion in more than 1,000 portfolio companies.
“This first group of SBICCT Initiative funds represents a consequential milestone in demonstrating the power of public-private partnerships to build enduring advantage by growing and modernizing our supply chains, strengthening our economic and national security, and benefiting the development and commercialization of critical technologies that are key drivers of our U.S. industrial base,” Heidi Shyu, under secretary of defense for research and engineering, said.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman announced the initiative in December 2022.
Funds licensed under the initiative are eligible for to $175 million in SBA guaranteed loans. In addition, the Department of Defense (DoD) provides program-related initiatives to drive value in the implementation of the licensee’s respective investment strategies.
The SBA granted the first SBICCT Initiative license in July. The agency has since licensed four funds and approved nine more.