The bottleneck isn't talent. It's access.
The first Defense Tech Combine put 83 companies in front of mission owners and generated $250M+ in pipeline in 5 days.
Build what warfighters need.
The U.S. has exceptional builders and founders. Merge Combinator gives them direct access to mission owners, real problem sets, and real opportunities to engage — then tools to act on it.
SigmaBlox Cohort 25-1 was the proof.
We partnered with a leading commercial accelerator with over 15 years of experience across thousands of startups. We paired them with Merge Combinator's mission network, defense domain expertise, and stakeholder access. Five days of in-person mission briefs, strategy, and red teaming between builders, stakeholders, and mission owners. A 12-week deployment season that produced real contracts, real funding, and real capability.
Weapons School graduate and former instructor fighter pilot. Flew combat missions in the F/A-18 across Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. F-22 pilot with the Hawaii Air National Guard. Officer in Charge of Homeland Defense for Hawaii and Guam. Founded SigmaBlox and created the Defense Tech Combine.
Founder and CEO of BetaBlox, one of the world's largest business incubators. Expert incubator architect with 15+ years designing programs that combine the speed and rigor of venture capital with real-world execution. Operational partner for Cohort 25-1.
Our dual-use experiment.
BetaBlox is a leading business incubator based out of Kansas City. They were also our dual-use experiment. When we started, they had never heard of SAM.gov and had very little interest in the paperwork. But they were in it for the mission — solving national security problems at scale.
BetaBlox brought the operating system. Merge Combinator filled the room and brought the insights. The result is the proof. Our cohort is already outperforming typical venture and private capital growth rate expectations.
Deploy the next Combine for your mission.
You bring the mission area, the problem set, and the stakeholders. We bring the builders, the operating model, and the execution.
Launch Your Mission Combine →Building something mission-relevant?
Tell us what you're working on. If access to the right mission owners, domain experts, or stakeholders would change your trajectory, we want to hear from you.
Tell Us What You're Building →Send Us a Message
Or email us directly at contact@mergecombinator.com