Demo Day FAQ

America's premier showcase for cutting-edge defense tech, bringing together top startups, investors, and defense leaders. We strip away the marketing fluff and corporate presentations to focus on what matters: real defense/national security technology demonstrated by the people building it.

35 companies, 1 stage, 0 distractions.

Defense and national security technology companies from seed stage (with working tech) through growth stage, including dual-use technologies. Every company must be ready to deliver a compelling 10-minute live demo of real capabilities.

No vaporware, no marketing pitches - just technology with clear potential for mission impact between now and 2027.

35 hand selected companies each get 10 minutes to demonstrate their technology on a single stage. Demos run across 7 hours (5 demos each hour) and are delivered by technical experts - the people who built the technology, not salespeople trying to close a deal.

Limited tickets will be available for purchase starting in January 2025. Submit your application here. There is no fee for Government personnel (whether Military or Government Civilian). All tickets - including media, government, investors, Primes, and demo companies - require an application. We REALLY believe in curation.

Tickets for government personnel - whether military or civilian - are free. Private sector participants pay $250 per ticket (our cost). All invited organizations are limited to two attendees, except demo companies which are allotted three tickets.

A small number of premium tickets will be available starting in January 2025 for:
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    - Organizations that want more than their initial two tickets
    - Qualified attendees whose organizations were not initially invited

The core goal of Demo Day is to showcase America’s most important early-stage defense technologies in front of a hand-selected audience of leaders who can materially impact their adoption. So we’re taking audience curation very seriously. Here’s how we’ve allocated tickets:

    - 200+ government leaders (both warfighters and acquisition leaders)
    - 200+ defense/natsec investors (Seed → Growth)
    - 60+ leaders from defense contracting Primes
    - Key legislators, policymakers, and media

Bonus: For those unable to attend in person Demo Day will be live streamed

Apply here. Selection is competitive and based on the criteria below: 
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Baseline Requirements
1. Working technology ready for a compelling 10-minute live demo
2. Primary focus in defense/national security (dual-use ok)
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‍Selection Criteria
1. Potential for mission impact within ~3 years
2. Technical innovation relative to current solutions
3. Clear path to deployment at scale

Note: There is no pay-to-play, nor is there sponsor influence on selections. The only way to get on the Demo Day stage is to build one of the 35 most important pieces of early-stage defense tech. Get to work.

Demo Day is March 17, 2025. We run a tight schedule:

Doors: 8.00am
Demos: 9:30am-5pm
Cocktail hour: 5-6pm
After party: 6-9pm

For those in town early, we'll have a happy hour with early check-in available on March 16th from 5-8pm in Navy Yard, Washington DC.

Navy Yard, DC.

Hotel blocks with group rates will be shared with attendees.

Demo Day is focused on showcasing game-changing early-stage technology. That means:

No armies of sales reps
No vaporware
No "thought leadership" panels
No corporate presentations

We're doing one thing: putting America's best early-stage defense tech in front of the exact people who can help scale it.

Yes, because great technology requires great relationships to scale. We've built in multiple ways to connect:

Pre-event happy hour
Demo session breaks
Cocktail hour
After party

But we keep the focus where it belongs - on the technology being demonstrated.

At Long Walk, we’re more Carhartt than Brooks Brothers. But we understand that’s not for everyone, so if you do your best work in a suit then go for it. And obviously, if your employer has strong feelings about a Uniform of the Day, we recommend not getting in trouble.

Yes. All demos will be live streamed and recorded for public viewing. Demo Day is intentionally unclassified - we want to inspire the widest possible audience to contribute to the critical work of strengthening America's defense industrial base.

Companies who apply will be fast-tracked for future showcase opportunities in front of investors, customers, media, and policymakers through the LWT platform. Applying for Demo Day (whether you’re selected this year or not) puts you on our radar.

No guests - every attendee goes through our curation process. Ticket transfers to qualified colleagues will be supported to the maximum extent possible (the last thing we want is to waste a seat). Please reach out to us at manifest@lwt.com to coordinate transfers.

A: I’m Landon. Mike is on the phone with one of our government customers right now. We’re the co-founders of Long Walk Technologies. Before starting Long Walk, we both served as Explosive Ordnance Disposal officers in the US Navy. After leaving the Navy, Mike founded Shift and I joined Palantir.

We’ve been on both sides of the defense technology challenge - as guys downrange depending on whatever kit the American taxpayer put in our backpacks and as startup guys working our asses off to get the best technology America could build into the hands of American servicemembers around the world. We started Long Walk to advance that goal, and Demo Day is one part of our strategy for achieving it.

Want to get involved? Email manifest@LWT.com.