The Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) has announced the National Security Fund Finance (NSFF) program, a new credit initiative aimed at shoring up U.S. critical minerals and materials that sit behind core national security technologies. Rather than adding another grant or project-level loan program for operators, NSFF routes Pentagon capital into the system at the fund level: OSC will lend directly to credit fund managers, who then combine that capital with their own private funds to back portfolios of critical-minerals companies and projects.
NSFF is enabled by funding under President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which carved out dedicated resources for critical minerals investments in the defense enterprise. OSC’s mission is straightforward: crowd in private capital to critical technologies and supply chains that matter for U.S. military advantage. NSFF slots into that mission as a targeted initiative for minerals and materials, parallel to ongoing efforts in areas like advanced energy systems, biomanufacturing, and microelectronics.
What We Know So Far
OSC’s mandate is to attract and scale private capital into critical technologies and supply chains that matter for U.S. military advantage, from applied AI and biomanufacturing to contested logistics and advanced energy systems. NSFF fits into that mission as a targeted initiative for critical minerals and associated industrial capabilities.
Based on OSC’s public statements to date, NSFF is expected to:
- Provide capital support to credit funds focused on U.S. critical minerals and materials
- Blend OSC loans with private capital to scale projects along the critical minerals value chain
- Target chokepoints in extraction, processing, advanced materials, and components feeding defense and dual use applications
Crucially, NSFF is not a program where operating companies apply directly to OSC. The office lends to fund managers, who then deploy capital into project portfolios that align with OSC’s investment strategy and national security priorities.
OSC has indicated that a formal Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will be released soon, with the application link and program details to be posted on its website once live.
Why This Program Matters for Critical Minerals
Critical minerals underpin a wide range of defense‑relevant technologies: advanced manufacturing, microelectronics, energy storage, directed energy systems, and more. These sectors are capital‑intensive, slow to permit, and exposed to commodity cycles and geopolitical risk. Traditional project finance and equity often struggle to line up neatly with their strategic value.
NSFF is one of the first explicit plays to route Pentagon credit through private funds rather than directly into individual projects. Done right, that structure can:
- Anchor funds that are willing to take on minerals risk in parts of the value chain most important to the Pentagon.
- Improve the risk/return profile of portfolios whose economics are hard to justify on commercial grounds alone.
- Signal to the broader market which categories of projects are likely to find support from federal credit, even as tax credits and other incentives shift under One Big Beautiful Bill.
NSFF sits alongside other federal funding tools for critical minerals – DOE grants and NOFOs, DFC and EXIM financing, tax incentives that have been narrowed but not eliminated – but its posture is different. It assumes there are fund managers ready to structure minerals and materials portfolios, and that federal loans at the fund level can unlock more aggressive private capital than project‑by‑project deals.
What Fund Managers and Operators Can Start Doing Now
Until the NOFO is out, there are a few practical moves that make sense:
- Fund managers can start mapping whether a dedicated or expanded vehicle focused on critical minerals aligns with OSC’s investment strategy and their own investor base. That includes thinking through portfolio construction, risk sharing, and how OSC loans would sit in the capital structure.
- Operators can flag current and planned projects that touch critical minerals or related supply chains, identify large capital needs (new facilities, expansions, processing lines, advanced materials capabilities), and frame them in terms of national security impact rather than only commercial metrics.
- Both sides should keep a close eye on OSC updates, so they are ready to move quickly once NSFF application details and timelines are published.
NSFF will not do the hard work of pipeline building or portfolio construction for you. The funds that are positioned to move quickly will be those that have already identified projects along the minerals value chain, understand permitting and siting risk, and can show how Pentagon‑backed credit changes the trajectory of those portfolios.
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 NSFF or other OSC and federal financing tools, schedule a conversation with our team.
