MXO Pitch Day 2026

DARPA’s MXO will host a Pitch Day for engagement with prospective proposers and to catalyze future efforts in the thrust areas listed within the solicitation. MXO Pitch Day will be hosted on November 2, 2026, in-person, in Chicago, Illinois. This Program Announcement DARPA-PA-26-07 constitutes the MXO Pitch Day solicitation. The goals of the MXO Pitch Day 2026 are to: 1) fund scientific discovery solutions for short-term efforts with the intent to advance scientific understanding, generate new concepts or methods, reduce technical uncertainty, and potential to catalyze future research efforts, and 2) employ an acquisition strategy to encourage participation by non-traditional organizations and small businesses that have not previously received a DARPA-funded award as prime performers and university teams whose Principal Investigators (PI) and Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PI) have not previously served as a PI or Co-PI under a DARPA-funded award. MXO Pitch Day 2026 aims to broaden DARPA’s goals to break down barriers of entry for performers new to DARPA and the national security space.