The American Dynamism

Harry O’Hanley spent four years as an engineer and manager at SpaceX before cofounding this startup with Dan Piemont to build launch vehicles and launch systems. The company designs, fabricates, and manufactures all its integrated systems — including its small launch vehicle, RS1, and deployable ground system, GS0 — from its El Segundo headquarters. In addition, ABL has a facility in Long Beach and two test operations facilities in the Mojave Desert. After successfully completing pre-flight and fueling tests earlier this year, the company is scheduling its first-ever liftoff.

Anduril’s aerial and submersible autonomous systems can identify and track objects of interest to protect military bases, airports, and other critical infrastructure. (Cofounder Palmer Luckey named the defense company after a sword in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.) But since its founding five years ago, Anduril’s technology has expanded beyond surveillance towers to weapons like explosive drones, software for optionally manned fighting vehicles, autonomous systems for sea and air, and more. Since opening offices in Orange County, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Boston, and London, the company announced a new $60 million research facility in Atlanta this summer.

Apeel created a natural, edible coating from discarded seeds, peels, and pulps that allows fruits and vegetables to last weeks without refrigeration. The product, which works by slowing water loss and oxidation, is currently FDA-approved in North America for avocados, organic apples, limes, and cucumbers (and in Europe for avocados, lemons, grapefruit, mandarins, oranges, and mangoes). In 2021, Apeel acquired ImpactVision, a provider of hyperspectral imaging tech, to better visualize and measure the freshness of produce. Currently, the company is working on new technology to protect fruits and vegetables from mold and preserve their peak nutrition post-harvest. Apeel was nominated for the 2022 Food Planet Prize for its efforts.

Applied Intuition’s software makes developing autonomous vehicles for agriculture, trucking, and the automotive industry faster and more efficient. Earlier this year, the company acquired Mechanical Simulation Corporation — maker of the vehicle simulation software CarSim — and hosted a congressional delegation at its Mountain View office to discuss how its technology can aid in defense autonomy programs. Though headquartered in Silicon Valley, Applied Intuition has offices around the world in LA, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Munich, Stockholm, Seoul, and Tokyo.

Legacy internet satellites are massive and costly, with limited service in areas with low density. To tackle this shortcoming, Astranis developed “MicroGEO” satellites — small, inexpensive satellites — that are designed to bring more rural parts of the world online. The company’s first mission, slated to launch within months, intends to triple the satellite internet capacity of Alaska. By 2030, Astranis aims to have more than 100 satellites in orbit.

The process of adopting a foster child has traditionally been dominated by physical paperwork. As the aunt of two adopted children and a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster youth in San Francisco, Binti cofounder Felicia Curcuru saw obvious opportunities for technology to streamline the system, both for potential foster parents and social workers. The app enables social workers to track background checks, record training hours, take case notes, and document home study evaluations online, allowing them to approve foster families more quickly and efficiently.

The Boring Company believes that high-tech tunnels are the future of transportation. The Elon Musk-helmed company develops faster, less costly technology to bore underground for the purposes of transportation, utility, and freight. The electric-powered Prufrock II mining machine, introduced earlier this year, can tunnel at speeds of one mile per week. Though the vision of the Hyperloop — a low-pressure system of high-speed pods meant to catapult people between cities — is not yet a reality, the company has provided glimpses of progress. The Loop, a planned 29-mile wide tunnel network beneath Las Vegas, opened its first station (of a planned 55) this past summer.

Bright Machines was founded in 2018 by industry veterans who saw a unique opportunity to leverage a software-first approach to transform manufacturing. Bright Machines can manufacture and inspect a variety of goods — from electronics to home appliances — using robotic cells. The robotic modules, which incorporate computer vision, machine learning, and 3D simulation, can be strung together to create entire assembly lines controlled by customizable software. These efficient micro-factories have the potential to significantly cut production and shipping costs, moving electronics manufacturing closer to home.

As part of a team of researchers at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, cofounders Martin Greenwald and Bob Mumgaard pioneered a superconductor technology that would make fusion devices faster and cheaper to build. The scientists spun this startup out of MIT in 2018 with the goal to build a compact fusion power plant and ultimately scale fusion energy. The company began construction on a 47-acre fusion energy campus in Devens, Massachusetts in 2021 and aims to have its demonstration plant up and running by 2025.

After majoring in architecture at Cooper Union, Cover cofounders Alexis Rivas and Jemuel Joseph quickly came to see cost as the limiting factor in home building — from construction to customization. They launched Cover in 2014 with a novel approach to building prefab homes: production-line manufacturing inspired by the automotive industry, with customization enabled by software. Currently, the company designs, permits, manufactures, and installs backyard studios in LA, but they intend to expand into single-family homes and additional markets.

Samir Menon developed simulation models for the human musculoskeletal system as a PhD student at Stanford. In 2017, along with fellow researchers from his robotics lab, he spun this startup out of his thesis. The company’s name refers to its deft robots, which can work alongside humans to pick products, move pallets, and pack boxes in warehouses. The company has partnered with food manufacturers, delivery giants, and heavy equipment manufacturers.

Cofounder Adena Hefets started Divvy in 2017 to help people like her parents, who wanted to buy a home but struggled to get approved for a mortgage. Divvy Homes’s rent-to-own model allows prospective homeowners to build up equity while they rent. Divvy purchases homes on behalf of customers — paying for inspections, closing costs, property taxes, and insurance — and offers a three-year lease. The customer pays 1 to 2% of the home’s value (which can go toward an eventual down payment) and monthly rent. After three years, the renter can either cash out or purchase the home. The company is now active in more than 20 cities.