5Side Strategy: Where Defense-Tech and Dual-Use Founders Find Their Unfair Advantage

F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet flying through a blue sky

We help defense and dual-use founders turn the Pentagon from a black box into a customer — and raise the capital that gets them there.

Strategy, capital, and federal access from a team that's built the company, selected the proposal that receives millions in government funding, commanded the mission, and written the check. We work with founders at the inflection points that matter: the first federal contract, the SBIR or OTA transition, the round that has to close, the board conversation that has to land.

Our Background

U.S. Department of Defense seal with blue emblem, gold border, stars, and the motto “Defense Innovation”
AFWERX logo with a dark navy geometric star symbol and stylized text on a black background
Seal of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States, featuring an eagle, red compass star, and blue and yellow circular border
U.S. Air Force logo in blue on a black background
United States Marine Corps emblem featuring a gold eagle, globe, and anchor within a blue and red circular seal
National Guard Bureau seal featuring a gold eagle holding crossed bundles of arrows on a navy blue background
National Security Innovation Capital (NSIC) logo in blue and white
Wharton University of Pennsylvania logo with heraldic shield and blue wordmark
National Security Innovation Network logo with blue shield emblem and text
Northwestern University logo in purple, featuring the university seal and founding year 1851
Columbia University logo with a blue crown emblem and the words “Columbia University.”
Vanderbilt University logo with a gold stylized V and black text on a dark green background
United States Air Force Academy logo in blue on a black background
Harvard University crimson shield crest with Latin motto on a black background

We’d love to work with you.