A four-year-old startup now runs the Pentagon's counter-drone storefront

Kaizen Laboratories controls the software layer that shapes which counter-drone systems U.S. troops and allies see, compare and move toward purchase.

Joint Interagency Task Force 401 awarded Kaizen Laboratories a $15 million other transaction agreement on May 8 to build and operate the Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems Marketplace at cuas.mil, Defense One reported. The Pentagon released the contract details late Monday.

Kaizen is a four-year-old software company. Co-founder and CEO Nikhil Reddy said his team built and deployed the platform from a blank slate in less than nine weeks. It went live about two weeks ago.

The task force first launched a marketplace under an existing contract in late February, spokesperson Lt. Col. Adam Scher told DefenseScoop. He did not identify the earlier vendor. Purchases reached $13 million in April and totaled $21 million as of Monday, Scher added.

Anduril, SMARTSHOOTER, DroneShield and AeroVironment are posting products, per Reddy. Pre-screened buyers can compare systems, prices and capabilities. Tiered access filters listings for export controls and classification. Australia, Poland, Romania, South Korea and the United Kingdom are approved users.