CCI Accelerator — Cyber Acceleration (CATAPULT) Fund & CCI+A Program
Translating Cybersecurity Research into Market-Ready Innovation
The CCI Accelerator, formally known as the Cyber Acceleration, Translation, and Advanced Prototyping (CATAPULT) Fund, is designed to help university innovators and Virginia-based cybersecurity startups overcome the commercialization “valley of death.” Through structured commercialization support, funding, mentorship, and cohort-based community-building, CATAPULT accelerates the path from lab research to real-world products.
What the Accelerator Does
It’s a market-first commercialization effort. The CATAPULT Fund injects up to $50,000 into select faculty-led teams or startup-affiliated innovators to help them develop translational prototypes, execute customer discovery, and prepare for downstream investment like SBIR or Commonwealth Commercialization Fund opportunities.
Over a structured 16-week program, participating teams engage in:
- Lean-style customer discovery, modeled after NSF I‑Corps frameworks
- Workshops, panels, and stakeholder roundtables, curated for CCI’s cybersecurity ecosystem
- Pitch development, culminating in presentations to industry, government, and investor audiences
- Opportunities to present at GMU’s Accelerate Investor Conference in Arlington
Who Should Participate & Why
The program is open to Virginia-based innovation teams, led by a faculty Principal Investigator from a public institution, with additional team members (students, co-founders, or startup collaborators) involved.
CATAPULT is ideal for teams whose work is too mature to remain in pure research but not yet investment-ready. It’s a launchpad to:
- Validate market needs
- Build investor-facing materials
- Connect with mentors, peers, and industry partners
- Secure next-stage funding with confidence
Key Program Milestones
Participants must attend critical sessions, including a kickoff bootcamp, customer mixers, PTAC-focused events, investor roundtables, and pitch-day presentations in Arlington. Over the program’s lifecycle, teams are expected to conduct at least 20 customer interviews, complete ICAP training, and meet defined milestones to receive their funding disbursements.
Funding is released incrementally, contingent on milestone progress. Students gain hands-on commercialization experience; faculty and innovator teams gain traction toward SBIR or CCF applications.
Impact: From Innovation to Investment
The CATAPULT Fund is a cornerstone in CCI’s commercialization strategy. It strengthens Virginia’s cybersecurity innovation network by transforming research into viable ventures and by helping universities and startups move smoothly from discovery to marketplace.
By equipping teams with resource access, real-world feedback, and investor-readiness, the CATAPULT program ensures that early-stage cyber technologies gain credibility and visibility, accelerating their transition into impactful products.