From Technologyto Capability

We've been to war. And know the workshop, the mud, and the ops room: engineers, operators, policymakers, investors.

Critically, we were the customer on the front line.

Now we tell you exactly what stands between your technology and a fielded capability.

We validate whether a technology or product can become a fielded military capability.

Technology is a component. Capability is a technology proven against doctrine, organization, training, infrastructure, and the conditions it will actually be used in. Most defence tech and dual-use companies conflate the two, and find out the difference during procurement, when it's too late.

Technical line-art sketch of an uncrewed aerial system with a gimballed camera payload

The operational concepts, tactics, and standard procedures that define how forces conduct missions and employ equipment.

The command hierarchies, unit sizes, and team structures responsible for operating and managing the capability.

The instructional materials, courses, and simulators needed to build operator and maintainer proficiency.

The core technology itself, along with all supporting hardware, software, spare parts, and diagnostic tools.

The higher-level knowledge and strategic understanding required by decision-makers to effectively employ the technology.

The human workforce, including the skill levels, staffing numbers, and physical requirements needed to support the system.

The physical real estate, utility infrastructure, storage space, and maintenance sites required to house and sustain the capability.

The technological and procedural standards that enable the system to connect, exchange data, and operate with other systems and forces.

What We Do

Allied capability depends on technology that is real, validated and funded. We exist to close that chain, operating where we deliver maximum impact, so credible capability reaches the Allied Warfighter.

Operational Capability Diagnostic

The question a founder can't answer about their own product: does it actually work, for the individual or team who will use it, under the conditions of the characterized scenario. Built around our flagship instrument, the Operational Pressure Test (OPT)™: an operator-led interrogation against eight lines, alongside a structural check on adoptability (IP position, ownership and investment exposure, export control, supply chain) and whether the company has the runway to see the process through. Every finding is graded Verified, Corroborated, Documented, or Claimed, and reported through NATO's own DOTMLPF-I framework, so it's legible to a defence buyer or an institutional assessor without translation, with readiness triangulated across TRL, IRL, and MRL.

The result: a graded verdict, Real, Conditional, or Dead, with a named plan for closing any gap.

For: Founders validating a defence application for the first time. Investors, accelerators, and diligence buyers requiring an independent, evidence-graded assessment before committing capital, a cohort place, or a term sheet.
Deliverable: The Pressure Test Record, a per-application evidence file: findings graded Verified, Corroborated, Documented, or Claimed on the conditions that matter, a civilian-first determination, structural-eligibility flags, a funding and runway finding, and a graded verdict: Real, Conditional, or Dead, with an Evidence Plan for closing what's still open.

Field Trial and Evaluation Planning

The follow-on to a completed Diagnostic. A Diagnostic names which findings are Conditional and what would upgrade each one; this turns that into an actual trial: which venue, what gets measured, what a pass looks like, and how the result gets recorded as upgraded evidence.

For: Companies that have completed an Operational Capability Diagnostic and have Conditional findings to close before a Real verdict, a funding decision, or a procurement conversation.
Deliverable: A trial and evaluation plan naming the venue, the protocol, and the pass criteria, built to convert a Conditional finding into Corroborated or Verified evidence.

Defence Market Entry

For a capability that already carries a Real or Conditional verdict: mapping it to the national adoption mechanism that fits, NATO DIANA, IDEaS, NRC IRAP DI Assist, and equivalents. Then engaging the warfighter sponsor who can carry the requirement forward, crossing the valley of death through urgent operational needs, mid-tier and rapid acquisition, or fast-track adoption tracks.

For: Validated companies ready to enter procurement or funding pipelines across Canada, NATO, and Five Eyes markets.
Deliverable: A routed adoption plan mapped to the mechanism that fits, a sponsor-engagement and fast-track plan, and rehearsal for the conversations that matter.

Requirements Strategy & Capability Advisory

The retained relationship, generally for companies that have been through our diagnostic and planning services, who need continued operator judgment as they scale; a bespoke service to augment executive capacity. Tracks the moving parts: a milestone event, new Defence Capabilities Blueprint cycle, a new funding call, a sponsor reorganization, a competitor's move, a new product variant.

For: Validated companies who need ongoing operator judgment.
Deliverable: Scoped case-by-case, tied to whatever prompted the session.

Who We Work With

We work with people who need a credible, evidence-based answer before they commit capital, a cohort place, or engineering time to a defence application, or before they sign off on someone else's.

For Companies
Hard tech founders validating a defence or dual-use application, and mature companies ready to enter a procurement or funding pipeline.
For Financial Sponsors
Investors, lenders, and acquirers commissioning independent, expert support for portfolio companies, or evidence-graded diligence before a cohort placement, investment, credit, or acquisition decision.
For Institutions and Accelerators
Institutions and accelerator/incubator programs adding specialized capacity during formal cohorts, and ongoing support to candidates afterward.

Focus

Autonomy & Uncrewed Vehicles
Extreme-Environment Technology
Soldier & Squad-Level Systems
Sustainment Operations (Logistics, Supply Chain, Maintenance/Engineering, Movement & Transportation, Medical)

Based in Vancouver, Canada. Working across Allied, NATO and Five Eyes markets: an industry where trust and credibility are everything.

Who We Are

Mark Machin MBA, BEng (Hons)

Founding Partner

Mark Machin spent nine years as a British Army engineering officer, globally deployed, including Middle East conflict zones, the technical bridge between front-line operational requirements and OEM engineering teams across vehicle, armaments, sensor, robotics, and communications platforms, commanding 200+ personnel across three continents. He later advised Fortune 500 clients at McKinsey & Company, then built and led capital program advisory practices across Canada, the US, and Chile.

BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering, MBA. Incorporated Engineer. Dual UK/Canadian citizen. Based in Vancouver, Canada.

Ollie Campbell MC, MSc, CMgr

Founding Partner

Ollie Campbell spent seventeen years as a British Army infantry officer, commanding operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and awarded the Military Cross for gallantry. He went on to advise senior officials on geopolitical risk and multilateral defence policy as Senior Policy Adviser at the UK Mission to the United Nations, before leading governance and strategy at one of BC's largest regulators.

MSc Security Sector Management (MA International Affairs, King's College London, in progress). Dual British/Canadian citizen. Based in Vancouver, Canada.

Start a Conversation

If you're validating a defence application, running diligence on one, or mapping a route to market, we'd like to hear about it.

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