The Endless Frontiers Institute

1. Executive Summary

On April 14–16, 2025, approximately 200 leaders from government, technology, defense, academia, and venture capital convened in Austin, Texas, for the inaugural Endless Frontiers retreat. The gathering—co-hosted by America’s Frontier Fund (AFF), the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Baylor University, Rice University, Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas at Austin—marked the formal launch of the Endless Frontiers Institute, a new entity designed to sustain multi-sector collaboration over a ten-year horizon.

The retreat featured the first technology policy speech of the Trump administration, delivered by White House OSTP Director Michael Kratsios, who outlined a “promote and protect” strategy for American technological leadership. The event produced five priority areas for national renewal and announced the creation of the Inman Prize for American Innovation.

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the initiative’s origins, organizational structure, key participants, strategic objectives, and—critically—a one-year status assessment examining what has changed between April 2025 and April 2026.

Scope of Analysis

2. Background & Context

2.1 Historical Inspiration

The initiative draws its name from Vannevar Bush’s 1945 report Science—The Endless Frontier, which argued that sustained federal investment in scientific research was essential to national prosperity and security. That report led to the creation of the National Science Foundation and established the intellectual framework for America’s postwar technological dominance.

The Endless Frontiers Institute explicitly positions itself as a 21st-century heir to Bush’s vision, arguing that the current geopolitical environment—particularly strategic competition with China—demands a comparable national mobilization of talent, capital, and institutional coordination.

2.2 Motivating Factors

2.3 The Austin Retreat (April 14–16, 2025)

The retreat was deliberately located in Austin, Texas—outside the traditional power centers of Washington, D.C., and Silicon Valley—to signal a broader geographic inclusion and to leverage Central Texas’s growing ecosystem of defense-focused technology firms and major research universities.

Approximately 200 participants were organized into 20 working groups over three days. The event was structured to prioritize intimate, interactive discussion over keynote-style presentations. Participants included current and former White House officials, members of Congress, former defense secretaries and CIA directors, NASA administrators, university presidents, venture capitalists, technology founders, and scientists.

2.4 White House OSTP Address

2.5 Five Priority Areas Identified

3. Key Attendees & Organizational Mapping

The inaugural retreat brought together approximately 200 participants, carefully curated to represent the full spectrum of stakeholders required for the initiative’s multi-sector approach. The following analysis maps key individuals by sector, organizational affiliation, and their roles within the Endless Frontiers ecosystem.

3.1 Government & Policy Leaders

3.2 Technology & Industry Leaders

3.3 Academic Leaders

3.4 Organizational Interconnection Map

The relationships between key participants reveal a tightly interconnected network. The following diagram illustrates the primary relationships and organizational overlaps:

Critical connection: Jordan Blashek serves as both President/COO of America’s Frontier Fund and General Partner at Overmatch Ventures, making him the single most important bridge between EFI’s operational core and the defense-focused venture capital ecosystem.

4. Organizational Structure & Governance

4.1 Entity Overview

The Endless Frontiers Institute is registered as a nonprofit organization (EIN: 39-3699126) in Austin, Texas, with a ruling year of 2025. It operates with offices in both Austin and Waco, Texas, and is initially housed at Baylor University. The institute was created as an outcome of the inaugural retreat to provide year-round institutional continuity.

4.2 Organizational Hierarchy

4.3 Funding Architecture

4.4 Geographic Strategy

The deliberate choice of Central Texas as EFI’s base reflects several strategic calculations: proximity to major military installations (Fort Cavazos, Joint Base San Antonio), a growing defense-tech startup ecosystem, four Tier 1 research universities, lower cost of operations than coastal cities, and political positioning in a state with significant bipartisan support for defense spending and technology investment.

5. Vision, Mission & Strategic Framework

5.1 Vision Statement

5.2 Mission

The Endless Frontiers Institute facilitates sustained investment in people, ideas, and partnerships to rebuild American strength. It commits to convening annually, incubating actionable policy recommendations, accelerating talent transitions between sectors, and deploying catalytic capital into frontier technologies critical to national security.

5.3 Dual Strategy: Promote & Protect

The strategic framework, articulated by OSTP Director Kratsios at the retreat, operates on two complementary tracks:

5.4 Ten-Year Implementation Timeline

5.5 Technology Focus Areas

6. Organizational Deep Dive

This section provides an in-depth assessment of four organizations central to the Endless Frontiers ecosystem: their structure, motivations, roles, and predicted impact.

6.1 America’s Frontier Fund (AFF)

Motivation: AFF was created to address a fundamental market failure—the reluctance of traditional venture capital to invest in capital-intensive, long-cycle technologies critical to national security. As Jordan Blashek has stated: “Nations like China are investing trillions in a top-down attempt to surpass the United States. If they take the lead in technologies like AI, quantum computing, or advanced energy, it will threaten not only our future global competitiveness, but also the security and collective prosperity of democracies worldwide.”

Role in EFI: AFF serves as the founding organization, operational manager, and financial backbone. It launched EFI as a direct outcome of the 2025 retreat, provides year-round institutional continuity through incubation of ideas and talent pipelines, and deploys catalytic funding into portfolio companies (Venus Aerospace, Foundation Alloy, Revalia Bio, Antheia).

Predicted Impact: As the single most important entity in the EFI ecosystem, AFF’s success or failure will largely determine whether the initiative achieves its ten-year objectives. Its unique position at the intersection of nonprofit mission and venture capital deployment gives it unusual flexibility.

6.2 Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)

Motivation: CFR’s China Strategy Initiative, launched in June 2024 under Rush Doshi (former White House NSC Director for China), provides the intellectual and analytical foundation for understanding the competitive landscape. The initiative is structured around four questions: What does China think? What does China do? How should the U.S. compete? How should we manage competition?

Role in EFI: CFR co-hosted the inaugural retreat and provides strategic policy guidance, geopolitical analysis, and convening power among foreign policy professionals. Its China Policy Accelerator produces actionable recommendations on defense industrial base, critical infrastructure, and industrial policy.

Predicted Impact: CFR provides the intellectual legitimacy and bipartisan credibility that EFI needs to influence policy. Its extensive network of government officials, foreign policy experts, and media relationships amplifies EFI’s reach well beyond the technology and venture capital communities.

6.3 8VC

Motivation: 8VC operates in sectors closely aligned with EFI’s priorities, particularly defense technology, government software, and autonomous systems. Joe Lonsdale’s background as Palantir co-founder and Jake Medwell’s former White House role position the firm at the government-technology nexus.

Key Portfolio Companies: Shield AI (autonomous systems, $200M Series E), Vannevar Labs (defense AI, $75M Series B), Saronic ($600M round at $4B valuation in 2026), Epirus (counter-drone systems, co-founded through 8VC Build program), Rebellion Defense ($150M Series C).

Predicted Impact: 8VC’s role is primarily as a capital deployer and ecosystem connector. Its November 2025 strategic partnership with Israel’s Kinetica Venture Capital to advance Israeli defense startups in the American market adds an international dimension aligned with EFI’s allied technology-sharing goals.

6.4 Overmatch Ventures

Motivation: Overmatch invests exclusively in deep tech, defense, and space—precisely the sectors EFI prioritizes. The firm’s general partners include three military veterans who frame their investment thesis in national security terms. As stated in their Fund II announcement: “Securing the technological high ground is the defining race of our time—and winning it requires courageous founders, capital with conviction, and a willing government.”

Critical Connection: Jordan Blashek’s dual role as AFF President/COO and Overmatch GP creates the strongest organizational bridge in the EFI ecosystem. This personal link ensures alignment between EFI’s policy objectives and Overmatch’s investment deployment.

Key Portfolio: xAI, Saronic (autonomous vessels), CHAOS Industries ($275M Series C in 2025), Nominal, Impulse Space, Armada AI. Overmatch also connects founders with government stakeholders through initiatives like the “Demand Signal Forum” to accelerate technology deployment.

6.5 Comparative Assessment

7. One-Year Status Update (April 2025 – April 2026)

7.1 Institutional Developments

7.2 Partner Organization Progress

America’s Frontier Fund

AFF has made significant progress on its $315 million debut fund raise, combining $140 million in private capital with $175 million in government SBICCT loans. The fund has deployed capital into at least four companies during the period:

Gilman Louie continues to hold prominent positions including Chairman of the National Intelligence University, Chairman of the Federation of American Scientists, and member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board— ensuring AFF retains deep institutional access across the intelligence and policy communities.

Overmatch Ventures

Overmatch demonstrated the most dramatic growth among EFI ecosystem organizations. In March 2026, the firm announced an oversubscribed $250 million Fund II—a 3.6x increase from its $70 million debut fund. Including co-investments and SPVs, the total platform now exceeds $500 million.

Fund II targets approximately 25 core investments at Seed and Series A stages, with SPVs providing follow-on growth capital. Portfolio highlights from Fund I include investments in xAI, Saronic (autonomous vessels), CHAOS Industries ($275M Series C in 2025), Impulse Space, and Armada AI.

8VC

8VC maintained its aggressive pace with 55 investments in 2025 and 20 investments in the first quarter of 2026. Defense-adjacent investments include a Series D follow-on in Saronic (March 2026) and the November 2025 strategic partnership with Israel’s Kinetica Venture Capital to advance Israeli defense startups in the American market.

Council on Foreign Relations

CFR’s China Strategy Initiative has continued producing analyses directly relevant to EFI’s mission, including reports on leapfrogging China’s critical minerals dominance (February 2026), the new U.S. cyber strategy and China’s threat (January 2026), and tracking Chinese overseas industrial investments (March 2026). The Washington China Forum, a joint effort with UC San Diego, convened in 2026 to discuss trade, technology, and security policy.

7.3 Ecosystem Growth: Defense Tech Venture Capital

The broader ecosystem that EFI seeks to catalyze experienced record growth in 2025:

Notable ecosystem milestones include Anduril raising $2.5 billion at a $30.5 billion valuation, Saronic reaching a $4 billion valuation after a $600 million round, and Helsing raising €600 million. The House of Representatives proposed $832 billion in discretionary defense funding for FY2026, including $148 billion for R&D.

7.4 Policy Environment Assessment

The policy environment has evolved favorably for EFI’s objectives:

• OSTP “Promote and Protect” strategy formalized: Kratsios’s AI Action Plan prioritizes deregulation, targeted R&D investment, infrastructure buildout, and global technology export promotion—all aligned with EFI’s stated objectives.
• Federal R&D priorities shifted: The 2026 budget request spared emerging technology research from broader cuts, while the NSF refocused priorities away from DEI toward technology competition.
• Export control tightening: “Simple and strict” controls on frontier AI models and semiconductor chips to adversarial nations.
• Energy infrastructure acceleration: Regulatory streamlining for data centers and power generation to support AI computation demands.

7.5 Risk Factors

8. Conclusions & Outlook

8.1 Overall Assessment

The Endless Frontiers Institute, one year after its launch, has achieved its Foundation Phase milestones and demonstrated institutional durability. The initiative benefits from several favorable structural conditions: strong alignment with current administration policy, record venture capital flows into defense technology, bipartisan support for technology competition with China, and a well-connected leadership team with deep roots in both government and industry.

The core AFF–CFR partnership provides both operational capability and strategic depth, while the Overmatch Ventures connection (through Jordan Blashek’s dual role) ensures direct linkage between policy objectives and capital deployment. The Texas university consortium anchors the initiative in a growing regional ecosystem with strong talent pipelines.

8.2 Key Judgments

8.3 Indicators to Watch (2026–2027)

8.4 Final Assessment

9. Visual Appendix

The following visualizations were produced as part of this analysis to illustrate the organizational structure, leadership networks, strategic framework, and geopolitical context of the Endless Frontiers Initiative. Click any figure to expand.

Figure A.1 — Organizational Mind Map

Comprehensive visualization of organizational interconnections across six sectors: Government & Policy, Technology & Industry, Venture Capital, Academic Institutions, Think Tanks, and Strategic Focus Areas.

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Figure A.2 — Leadership Network Diagram

Network analysis of relationships between key leaders, color-coded by sector. Node sizes represent relative influence within the EFI ecosystem.

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Figure A.3 — Organizational Hierarchy

Six-tier hierarchical structure from strategic leadership (White House OSTP) through operational management, academic partnerships, and strategic focus areas.

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Figure A.4 — Strategic Framework

Complete strategic framework visualization from Vision through Mission, dual-pronged Promote & Protect strategy, five key objectives, six implementation methods, and success metrics.

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Figure A.5 — Geopolitical Context Analysis

Four-panel analysis covering technology competition areas (U.S. vs. China), initiative response priorities, stakeholder influence matrix, and projected impact timeline through 2035.

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Figure A.6 — Strategic Implementation Timeline

Ten-year Gantt chart covering 2025–2035 implementation roadmap with 13 major milestones across Foundation, Implementation, Expansion, and Consolidation phases.

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