“The Defense Department’s Office of Strategic Capital has been ‘heads-down in assessing impacts to national security’ resulting from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB, according to an email Sunday from the OSC director.

In a March 12 email to OSC’s ‘engagements’ listserv with the subject line ‘National Security Impacts of SVB,’ OSC Director Jason Rathje said the office’s mission ‘relies on strong public-private partnerships,’ and added that “many of the small businesses affected by the SVB failure are not only organizations that have worked alongside us, but also employ close friends, including reservists and veterans we’ve had the opportunity to serve with.’  OSC did not respond to requests for comment, and a DOD spokesperson deferred all questions about Silicon Valley Bank to the Treasury Department, which took steps over the weekend to mitigate the potential economic and financial fallout from the bank’s collapse.” (1)

For the Pentagon's new Office of Strategic Capital, the run on Silicon Valley Bank is a national security crisis.

"Over the past 48 hours, we have been actively collaborating with our DoD and other government colleagues to advocate for our national security community…" pic.twitter.com/1wP0p4Q1H6

— Jonathan Guyer (@mideastXmidwest) March 12, 2023

The full text of the email follows:

Good Afternoon,

At OSC, our mission relies on strong public-private partnerships. As a result, since late last week, we have been tracking the Silicon Valley Bank situation closely.

While we have been heads-down in assessing impacts to national security, I wanted to let you know that we understand that this is an incredibly difficult time. Over the past 8 years, our OSC teammates have had the fortune of witnessing the exponential growth in national security-focused entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators who both directly and indirectly support the DoD mission. As such, many of the small businesses affected by the SVB failure are not only organizations that have worked alongside us, but also employ close friends, including reservists and veterans we’ve had the opportunity to serve with.

Over the past 48 hours, we have been actively collaborating with our DoD and other government colleagues to advocate for our national security community and provide insight into ongoing mitigation efforts. We are constantly monitoring national security-related impacts of the crisis, and we are looking forward to providing more information as it becomes available.

Thank you for being a partner,

Jason
Director, Office of Strategic Capital (2)

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2023/03/09/the-dod-office-of-strategic-capital-will-focus-on-expanding-capital-for-small-business/

https://oodaloop.com/ooda-original/2023/02/03/the-dods-office-of-strategic-capital-launches-small-business-initiative-americas-frontier-fund-forms-strategic-innovation-group/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2022/12/02/department-of-defense-establishes-office-of-strategic-capital/

About the Author

Daniel Pereira

Daniel Pereira is research director at OODA. He is a foresight strategist, creative technologist, and an information communication technology (ICT) and digital media researcher with 20+ years of experience directing public/private partnerships and strategic innovation initiatives.