The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), in partnership with The Applied Research Institute (ARI), has launched the Solutions Marketplace, a long-term, open call for innovators to share emerging technologies with the Intelligence Community (IC).
Expected to open on August 1, 2026, this initiative will give companies, researchers, and startups a full year to submit short, unclassified video pitches that will support the advancement of R&D, experimentation, prototyping, testing, procurement, and sustainment of solutions relevant to the IC mission.
Instead of lengthy proposals, solution providers will follow a streamlined process built around concise post-competition video pitches and minimal supporting documentation. The marketplace is designed to shorten the path from “interesting idea” to real contracts, by using rapid acquisition pathways already available to the IC.
Who Should Consider Submitting
IARPA is inviting participation from a broad range of solution providers:
- US‑based companies of all sizes, including traditional and non-traditional contractors and new entrants
- Universities, non‑profits, and research institutions
- Individual solution providers and, in some cases, foreign entities compliant with export and international law
If you work in secure communications, cyber and AI security, R&D operations tools, biometrics and privacy, or other IC‑relevant technologies, this marketplace is a practical way to get in front of mission customers without waiting for a specific BAA or program call.
Key Strategic Focus Areas
The IARPA Solutions Marketplace highlights several strategic areas of interest aligned with current IC mission needs:
- Secure communications solutions that leverage commercial devices and infrastructure to provide non‑attributable and low‑detectability communications for users in diverse, constrained environments.
- Cyber and artificial intelligence (AI) security technologies that address adversarial AI, autonomous cyber operations, AI supply‑chain security, governance, and evaluation or red‑teaming tools
- Tools for automating the “business of R&D,” targeting administrative and operational bottlenecks in federal research programs, such as idea generation, acquisition, test and evaluation, portfolio management, and declassification workflows.
- Biometric recognition and multimodal privacy preservation capabilities that can recognize individuals across imagery, video, text, and audio while simultaneously deploying strong privacy‑enhancing technologies.
- Other Intelligence Community‑relevant solutions that can materially impact one or more IC mission areas, even if they do not map cleanly to the categories above.
This list is expected to evolve as more IC customers engage with the marketplace, with early submitters shaping how future focus areas are determined.
How the Marketplace Works
The IARPA Solutions Marketplace is a rolling open call running from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2027, with monthly submission periods. Innovators submit an unclassified video pitch and basic supporting information through the online portal. Submissions are then reviewed by subject matter experts drawn from the IC, industry, and academia, and those deemed “awardable” are tagged by strategic focus area and made visible to authorized government users.
From there, government customers can search, compare, contact providers, and move toward award through multiple rapid acquisition pathways. Awardable solutions can remain in the marketplace for up to 24 months, and submitters receive ratings and feedback on technical merit and fit, with the option to refine and resubmit in later cycles. Contract pathways can cover research, development, prototyping, test and evaluation, and production, with fully negotiable terms on payment, IP and data rights, milestones, and pricing – potentially across multiple customers based on a single solution pitch.
Why This Matters
For companies and researchers that typically wait for a specific BAA, RFP, or RFI, the Solutions Marketplace offers a standing entry point into the Intelligence Community. It concentrates demand from multiple IC organizations in one place and uses existing statutory authorities to treat awardable solutions as post-competitive, removing a major friction point in how new capabilities reach contracts.
EverGlade is a national advisory firm helping innovators navigate the federal funding ecosystem. We support companies across the funding lifecycle, from early-stage strategy through proposal development, negotiations, and post-award execution, ensuring you win the award and deliver the program.
For additional information on where your capabilities could plug into this investment, schedule a conversation with our team.
