Build the next company that matters

Fairwater Labs creates companies to solve meaningful problems in defense and national security. We are actively placing technical and business leaders into new ventures.

If you have domain expertise, entrepreneurial instincts, and a strong sense of mission, we want to meet you.

Why founders choose Fairwater

We’ve built a platform that removes the most common blockers to starting a company in this space:

unclear problem sets, limited access to the right networks, hard-to-navigate defense pathways, and solo founder risk.

When you join a Fairwater company, you get:

  • A validated problem set
  • A structured build and launch process
  • Committed early funding
  • Access to DoD end users and early customers
  • A team of experienced operators to support you through early traction

This is your company. We take a minority stake. You lead it.

Two paths to founding

Business Lead

Best suited for operators, strategists, Veterans, consultants, or generalists who know how to drive efforts in dynamic environments.

Key responsibilities:

  • Managing day-to-day operations
  • Leading customer discovery, engagement
  • Navigating the DoD ecosystem
  • Driving go-to-market and early fundraising
  • Building the team and setting priorities
  • Hiring the right people in the right roles at the right time
introduce yourself

Technical Lead

Ideal for computer scientists, data wizards, engineers, and other technical builders with deep technical knowledge and a desire to launch real-world products.

Key responsibilities:

  • Leading technical direction and system design
  • Prototyping early versions of the product
  • Translating mission needs into product architecture
  • Validating with end users and iterating quickly
  • Building the early tech team and planning for growth
introduce yourself

First-time founders welcome

Many of our founders are building a company for the first time. We do not consider that a risk to our company creation model. We consider their passion and grit a feature.

If you bring clarity, urgency, and insight into the problem, we will help you build the rest. You will have operational support from day one and ownership that reflects your role.

Our values

We look for founders who align with how we operate. These principles guide how we build, support, and make decisions together.

Assume goodness as the starting point in all interactions
Distinguish facts from stories and lead with facts
Choose daily progress over perfection and learn from setbacks
Push outside comfort zones to keep growing
Openly debate, jointly commit, then execute with urgency
Embrace diverse backgrounds and viewpoints as a strength
Stay focused on the success of our entrepreneurs
Stay focused on delivering returns to our investors
Remain optimistic that our country’s best days are ahead

Hear from our founders

"Fairwater Labs has been a valuable partner for Clara Copilot. Their support and guidance have helped streamline the government sales process and advance our platform’s development. Their collaboration has been essential in driving impactful, mission-focused solutions."
Alex Moffitt
Founder & CEO
Clara Copilot
"Partnering with Fairwater Labs significantly de-risked the early stages of our startup journey. Their team brought deep expertise across business and product development, from refining our go-to-market strategy to offering critical input on product design decisions. Just as importantly, they helped us accelerate our prototyping process, allowing us to iterate faster and with greater confidence."
Mark Buonforte
Founder/CEO
Delta AI
"Our partnership with Fairwater Labs has been a catalyst for Halite Medical. Their team brought not just tools and structure, but strategic insight that comes from deep experience in defense and dual-use ventures. It’s still early, but we’ve already seen the impact with key wins in the defense marketplace."
Rachel Wong
Founder/CEO
Halite Medical
"Fairwater Labs was the first organization to believe in Swell. They saw my vision before others could—stood by us through the trough of sorrow, rolled up their sleeves to work alongside us when we were deep in the trenches, challenged me as a founder and backed my toughest calls. More than partners, they show up like cofounders, especially in the hardest times."
Rachel Edenfield
Founder & CEO
Swell
Fairwater Labs has been a pleasure to work with from incubation. Their advisors across business and product development have been critical to helping us win our Phase 1 SBIR, improve on our product, and provide mentorship.
Aristos Xanthus
Founder/CTO
Delta AI
"Fairwater Labs has been instrumental in shaping our early go-to-market strategy within the DoD, helping us identify initial users and securing an exercise invitation before we even launched. They've also provided valuable feedback on our early product designs as we developed our MVP."
Jamison Pereira
Founder/CEO
Endstate Technologies

Open roles

If you don’t see a perfect fit, reach out anyway.

Co-Founder & Technical Lead — New Portfolio Company

Remote (based in USA)

Learn more

Join us

We are actively building new companies and recruiting founding teams.

Join as a Founder

We are actively recruiting and placing founding teams into new companies. Explore what that looks like.

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Contact the Team

Interested in partnering, investing, or learning more? Reach out and let’s talk.

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