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

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), through its Commercial Strategy office, is soliciting proposals under the DARPA Commercial Solutions Opening (DCSO) with solicitation number HR001126RE007 to accelerate the commercialization of innovative technologies developed under DARPA’s research programs. The initiative aims to bridge capability gaps in national security and civilian sectors by enabling the integration of Embedded Entrepreneurs (EEs) who will lead business development, market validation, and scaling efforts for DARPA-derived innovations. Proposals must demonstrate a clear pathway to transitioning promising technologies into market-ready solutions, with a focus on reducing commercialization risk rather than technical risk. The solicitation is open to a broad range of technical and business approaches, and awards will be made based on the potential contribution to DARPA’s mission, commercialization readiness, and price reasonableness—with mission impact being the most critical factor, followed by readiness and then cost. The program supports two tracks: a Base Cloud Service Provider (CSP) project with a 12-month performance period and a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) track with a maximum duration of 24 months, which may overlap with the base period. All proposals must include a detailed Statement of Work using DARPA’s official template, addressing key deliverables such as customer demand validation, intellectual property strategy, regulatory planning, manufacturing scale-up, and investor engagement. The Embedded Entrepreneur must be sourced externally unless an exception is justified, and offerors must clearly define the EE’s qualifications. Proposals must be submitted via email to DARPACSO@darpa.mil by April 30, 2027, and are limited to five pages for the technical section, with separate required documents for the Statement of Work and price proposal. Offerors must disclose Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and CAGE code, declare size status, and provide full disclosures regarding foreign ownership, organizational conflicts of interest, and export control restrictions. The contract vehicle may be awarded as a fixed-price FAR contract or an Other Transaction for Prototypes, subject to government discretion and funding availability. Payment processing requires registration in the Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF) system, and all proprietary materials must be clearly marked. The place of performance is Arlington, Virginia, and while no security clearances are required, compliance with Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and cybersecurity standards including CMMC Level 1 is mandatory.