DARPA's Commercial Solutions Opening (DCSO) for Commercial Strategy

Solicitation / RFP / RFQ

This document solicits proposals for DARPA's Commercial Solutions Opening (DCSO), a program aimed at transitioning and commercializing innovative solutions derived from DARPA-funded technologies. The goal is to close military and civilian capability gaps by leveraging commercial solutions and fostering U.S. investment in companies developing these technologies. The program includes the Embedded Entrepreneurship Initiative (EEI) to support commercialization efforts.

Proposals must align with DARPA's Commercial Strategy goals and demonstrate a clear plan for commercialization. Key focus areas include:

• Potential Contribution and Relevance to the DARPA Mission: Highlighting the technology's impact on DARPA's mission, its contribution to the Department of War (DoW), U.S. Government, or civil society, and its technical risk level.

• Commercialization Readiness: Addressing challenges in product development, market entry, intellectual property (IP) freedom to operate, and the team's experience in commercializing technologies. Proposals must also detail the qualifications of an Embedded Entrepreneur (EE) to be hired.

• Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Offerors may propose an MVP as an option or a standalone proposal, detailing its rationale and benefit.

• Awards will be fixed-price contract or Other Transaction (OT) for Prototypes.

• Base CSPs (including EEI efforts) should not exceed $350,000. CSPs exceeding this amount or including an MVP will take longer to evaluate.

• Performance period for base CSPs is 12 months; for MVPs, it is up to 24 months.

• Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis until April 30, 2027.

• Submission is via email to DARPACSO@darpa.mil.

• Evaluation is based on three factors, with Factor 1 (Potential Contribution and Relevance to DARPA Mission) being the most important, followed by Factor 2 (Commercialization Readiness), and Factor 3 (Price).

• Solutions must be derived from DARPA-funded R&D programs.

• Offerors must be registered in SAM and meet CMMC Level 1 requirements.

• Specific eligibility criteria apply for OT awards, particularly for MVP proposals.

• All proposals must be unclassified.

• Offerors are responsible for identifying proprietary information.

• Costs incurred in preparing proposals are not recoverable.

• Questions should be submitted to DARPACSO@darpa.mil.

Statement of Work (SOW) / Performance Work Statement (PWS)

This document provides a template for a Statement of Work (SOW) for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) initiative, specifically focusing on the transition of DARPA-funded technologies using commercial solutions. The primary goal is to reduce business and commercialization risk for proposed solutions.

The SOW template outlines required and optional sections for offerors to detail their commercialization strategy. Key required sections include:

• Background/Introduction: Applicable background for the proposed SOW.
• Tasks: A detailed breakdown of tasks, organized by fiscal year, linking tasks to milestones, metrics, and deliverables. Offerors must focus on reducing business and commercialization risk, not technical risk. Common tasks include:
  • Embedded Entrepreneur (EE) Identification and Engagement
  • Opportunity Definition and Validation
  • Value Proposition Development
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Commercialization Strategy
  • Customer Requirements Identification
  • Financing and Investor Engagement Plan
  • Intellectual Property (IP)/Freedom to Operate Plan
  • Techno-Economic Analysis
  • Dual-Use Market Strategy
  • Regulatory Strategy
  • Manufacturing Scale-Up Plan
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Reimbursement Strategy
  • EEI Closeout
• Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Plan (Optional): If an MVP is proposed, tasks supporting its development and execution, emphasizing market entry and validation.
• Milestone Payment Schedule Table: Offerors must select a pre-filled structure or provide a detailed schedule.
• Government-Furnished Information and/or Equipment: Identification of any required GFI/GFE.
• Intellectual Property: Tables to identify IP to be delivered to the Government.
• Key Personnel: Qualifications for the Embedded Entrepreneur (EE) or MVP key personnel.
• Place of Performance: Location where work will be performed.
• Travel: Inclusion of all required travel.
• Period of Performance: Base CSP should be 12 months; MVPs should not exceed 24 months.
• Reports: Monthly status reports and a final report summarizing outcomes.

Tasks must include specific completion criteria, metrics, and milestones demonstrating achievement and adherence to the proposed schedule. Monthly status reports documenting progress, issues, and risks are required. A final report summarizing overall outcomes and closeout metrics is also mandatory.

• Period of Performance: Base CSP is 12 months; MVPs are up to 24 months. Periods may overlap.
• Place of Performance: To be provided by the offeror.

Offerors must remove or edit italicized, red text in the template. If proposing a stand-alone MVP, delete SOW Section B. If key personnel are not proposed, delete SOW Section G. Offerors are strongly encouraged to select a pre-filled milestone payment structure for faster evaluation.

Form / Attachment / Pricing Sheet

This document is a pricing template provided as an attachment to the solicitation. It is designed to guide bidders in structuring and submitting their cost proposals for the opportunity.

• Price Breakdown Sheet: Requires bidders to detail labor categories, hours, rates, and total costs for both the Base period and any Options. It also includes sections for Travel, Other Direct Costs (ODCs), and Material/Equipment, with fields for quantities, rates, and total prices. A "Fully Burdened Rate" is specified for labor.
• Travel Sheet: Provides a detailed template for itemizing travel expenses, including purpose, origin/destination, number of people/days/trips, airfare, lodging, M&IE per diem, car rentals, conference fees, and other expenses. It requires adherence to federal per diem rates and specific instructions for justification and backup documentation.
• ODC Details Sheet: A template for detailing Other Direct Costs, including description, quantity, unit of issue, unit price, total price, basis of estimate, and supporting documentation status. It requires separate sections for Base and Option periods.
• Materials Sheet: A template for itemizing materials and supplies, including description, quantity, unit price, total price, source, basis of estimate, and supporting documentation status. It also requires separate sections for Base and Option periods.
• Equipment Sheet: A template for detailing equipment costs, including description, justification, deliverable status, type of equipment, quantity, unit price, total price, vendor/source, basis of estimate, and supporting documentation status. It requires separate sections for Base and Option periods.

Bidders must use these templates to format their pricing proposals accurately. The templates dictate how costs for labor, travel, ODCs, materials, and equipment should be presented, including requirements for justification and supporting documentation for specific cost elements. Failure to adhere to these templates may impact proposal evaluation.