MACH37's accelerator program consists of two 90-day sessions per year aiming to host 5-8 cyber security startup companies. The sessions are known as Cohorts and are hosted at the Center for Innovative Technology's office in Herndon, Virginia. Like other accelerator programs, they provide participants with seed money, advice, and connections in exchange for equity. Upon acceptance, companies receive an initial investment of $50,000 for the cost of an 8% stake in the company. The purpose of the money is to fund development and living expenses for the duration of the program which requires extensive on-site participation at the MACH37 facility. The 90 days of each Cohort are meant to be an intense period of design, development, and criticism with the ultimate goal of giving a successful presentation in front of a panel of potential investors during what is known as Demo Day. In an interview with Washington Business Journal, CIT chief Pete Jobse stated "What the accelerator is designed to do is make sure the concepts the markets that appear to be interesting for these new technologies are actually there for them". As a state-funded program, MACH37 has been seen as an opportunity for emerging technology companies to gain access to government contracts relating to cyber security. MACH37 is supported by Governor Terry McAuliffe, who initiated a memorandum of understanding between MACH37 and the University of Virginia's College at Wise. However, McAuliffe has also expressed a desire to transition ownership share to private corporations such as Amazon Web Services, one of MACH37's sponsors. During the 90-day Cohorts, MACH37 hosts weekly dinners where various cyber security industry leaders have spoken with the stated intent of bringing the Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. cyber security communities closer together. These dinners are free to attend and typically draw over 100 guests.
History
MACH37 has had 40 different startup companies as participants since its founding. The program was started in early 2013 as a division of the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology with support from Virginia's government as part of an initiative to provide new technology for the intelligence agencies of the United States as well as creating new jobs and establishing Virginia as a cyber security capital. MACH37 is currently managed by a group known as the MACH37 Partners, which consists of founders Rick Gordon, Dan Woolley, Tom Weithman, David Ihrie, and Ed Albrigo, all of whom have previously worked in the software industry. Initially, MACH37 was sustained entirely through public funding by the Virginia government. In 2015, the aerospace\defense company General Dynamics agreed to partially fund MACH37's operating budget. This new funding from General Dynamics came at no reduction to the state budget for MACH37. This was considered the first major step of transferring control of MACH37 to the private sector. According to The Washington Post, MACH37 has operated differently than other accelerators because it looks to accept founders with extensive technical backgrounds but limited entrepreneurial experience and that have never run a company before. This has allowed participants to focus exclusively on product design and development while MACH37 aims to provide connections to financial backing that typically require additional resources and expertise from the startups. So far, 70% of MACH37 participants in 2015 and 63% in 2016 received additional funding from private investors after completing the program. As of 2016, MACH37 has partnerships with Microsoft BizSpark, Rackspace, Virtru, and Square 1 Bank and is sponsored by Amazon Web Services, General Dynamics, and SAP SE. MACH37 also has the not-for-profit organization MITRE as a part of its network. In July 2017, it was announced that Rick Gordon, Dan Woolley and Bob Stratton were no longer at MACH37. Tom Weithman became the President of the company, Jason Chen became the managing director of operations, and Mary Beth Borgwing became the managing director of cyber.
