2025 Directory of DoW PEOs

Who Buys in Government? Leveling the Playing Field for Defense Startups

The 2025 Directory of DoW PEOs is not only a reference document, it is a tool that advances the Silicon Valley Defense Group’s mission. At its core, SVDG exists to bridge the gap between the national security community and the innovation ecosystem. Too often, startups with transformative technologies face structural barriers to entering defense markets, not because their ideas lack merit, but because they cannot navigate the complexity of the Department of War’s acquisition system.

This lack of transparency creates an information asymmetry: established primes and incumbents know who the buyers are, how the system works, and which offices to target, while new entrants remain shut out. That imbalance slows down the adoption of critical technologies where time is a strategic advantage.

This directory is an open-source force multiplier for the defense innovation community. It empowers:

  • Founders, by showing where to start and who to call.

  • Investors, by clarifying the go-to-market pathways unique to defense.

  • Policymakers, by providing a shared resource that aligns requirements with acquisition channels.

For SVDG, the PEO Directory reflects our commitment to a whole-of-nation approach to innovation, one that reduces friction, accelerates adoption, and ensures that the best ideas from America’s entrepreneurs can make their way to the warfighter.

How to Use the Directory

The 2025 edition of the PEO directory is periodically updated to reflect the organigrams of all major acquisition entities, allowing readers to easily identify points of contact, and survey the full breadth of potential customers. 

Additionally, the document serves as an introductory educational tool for those aspiring to do business with the DoW. Especially directed to defense and dual-use startup founders, it presents the full range of funding opportunities both from the public and private sector.

The Directory includes:

  1. A 30-page tutorial for startups on how the Department of War buys systems and the acquisition, processes and programs that exist for startups

  2. Directories for:

    1. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

    2. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) bodies

    3. Office of the Secretary of War (OSD)

    4. Office of the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment (OUSD(A&S))

    5. Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E))

    6. OSD (R&E) Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)

    7. OSD (P) Under Secretary of War for Policy

    8. OSD (I&S) Under Secretary of War for Intelligence and Security

    9. Director of Administration and Management (DA&M)

    10. Army and Army HQ – including Army PEOs

    11. Navy, the office of the Secretary of the Navy, and related Systems Commands

    12. Marine Corps

    13. Special Operations Command (SOCOM)

    14. Department of the Air Force

    15. Space Force

  3. Appendix A: List of all DoW PEOs with links

  4. Appendix B: Spreadsheet of all PEOs and Program Managers

  5. Appendix C: Extensive account of:

    1. VC and PE firms investing in Defense

    2. DoW SBIR Programs

    3. OTA Consortia

    4. Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) Organizations

    5. Tribal/Alaska Native Corporations (ANC)

    6. U.S. Government VCs

    7. Allied Government VCs (U.K., E.U., NATO, Canada)

    8. Defense Accelerators and Academic Courses

  6. Appendix D: Startup Test Centers across Services

  7. Appendix E: Defense Publications and Trade Shows

  8. Appendix F: Army Systems by Contractor

Please refer to the Index for a more in depth rundown of all sections in the Directory.

Acknowledgements

SVDG would like to thank all those involved in putting together the 2025 Directory of DoW PEO’s for all the time, effort, and resources that they poured into this project. In particular, we would like to thank:

  • Steve Blank - SVDG Advisor and co-founder of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation,

  • Joe Felter - Executive Director of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation,

  • Pete Newell - Chief Executive Officer of BMNT,

  • Steve Weinstein - General Partner at the America’s Frontier Fund.