The Corporation seeks a partner to develop, manage, and execute the 2025-2026 401 OTC, which culminates in a pitch showcase event where selected finalists will present to an audience of defense contractors, government stakeholders, investors, and domain experts. Overall, the 401 OTC and corresponding pitch event will support OTH’s goal of bringing new and innovative marine technologies to market. Note: 401 OTC - related awards to the challenge’s participants are not funded under this RFP. It is the responsibility of the selected Proposer to identify, cultivate, and solicit sponsorships for any prize money awarded to selected challenge participants. Tasks for the selected Proposer include: • Identification of accelerator program thematic focus areas in consultation with the OTH and defense stakeholders. • Development and design of a business support program that provides expert advising, mentorship, and training by leaders in defense, national security, innovation, and entrepreneurship, on topics relevant to the commercialization of dual-use technologies and scaling innovations with a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 5-9. • Regional, national, and (as eligible) international recruitment of innovators and startups to participate in the challenges and outreach to incubators, accelerators, university labs, and other institutions with relevant technologies. • Recruitment, cultivation, and oversight of subject matter experts, partners, sponsors, and those supporting the selection of companies and their technologies. • Management of challenge application, technology review, and participant selection process, including identification and setup of software as needed. • Participant coordination, outreach, and communications throughout the 401 OTC from the onboarding process through the final pitch event, to include program follow-up and evaluation, in deep collaboration with the OTH. • Planning and management of a high-visibility final pitch event, including venue coordination, marketing, and event production, which may be in collaboration or conjunction with an existing regional ocean or blue economy event. • Cultivating and securing sponsors for pitch event prizes. • Launch and execution of the 401 OTC marketing and communication plan in partnership with OTH staff and the OTH Consortium. • Development of tools to track the outcomes of the 401 OTC, including the impact and outcomes, final KPIs, lessons learned and participant feedback. • Overarching project management, with support from the OTH staff
