Your Expert
Eric Wagner
Founder and CEO of RFP Pipeline. 25+ years in technology commercialization. Hundreds of millions in SBIR, STTR, BAA, and OTA funding secured. Former president of a $270M aerospace & defense company. Ohio State commercialization veteran who launched 22+ startups.
About
Why I built this
I’ve spent the last two and a half decades helping technology companies commercialize innovative work through federal R&D funding. From running a 750-employee aerospace & defense commercialization company, to leading Ohio State’s efforts launching 22+ university startups, to directly managing pursuit and capture for small businesses, one pattern became impossible to ignore:
Small businesses with genuinely innovative technology routinely lose federal R&D funding to bigger shops with dedicated BD departments — not because their technology is weaker, but because they can’t dedicate the time to the BD work.
They miss the right opportunities. They misread compliance requirements. They run out of time to write a competitive proposal. And every other tool in the market either drowns them in undifferentiated listings or hands them a generic LLM that confidently produces non-compliant drafts.
I built RFP Pipeline to solve that problem the way I’ve been solving it manually for 25 years — except now with AI doing the mechanical work (ingestion, pre-extraction, drafting against a verified library) while I handle the high-judgment work (curation, strategy, pursuit calls). The result is my commercialization playbook, delivered as software, but without removing the human expertise that makes it actually work.
Our initial cohort is small by design. I want to be hands-on with every customer for the first year and prove the value compounds the way I’ve designed it to. If you’re a small business pursuing SBIR, STTR, BAA, OTA, or similar federal R&D funding, I’d like to help.
— Eric Wagner
Credentials
25+ years of proven commercialization
The track record behind every RFP Pipeline curation decision.
Funding Secured
Personally secured hundreds of millions of dollars in SBIR, STTR, OTA, BAA, and related federal R&D funding across two decades — both for companies Eric led and for small businesses he advised. Phase I through Phase III, across DoD, NSF, DOE, DARPA, and more.
Operations Scale
Former President of D&S Consultants (DSCI), an aerospace and defense commercialization company. Grew the company from 400 to 750+ employees at 70% CAGR, with 15 worldwide office locations and over $270M in annual revenue at time of departure.
Startup Launch Track Record
Oversaw the successful launch of 22+ startups through The Ohio State University's commercialization office. Co-founded Converge Technologies (commercialization services) and served as Co-Fund Manager at Ohio Gateway Tech Fund (pre-seed venture).
Executive Leadership
Chief Executive Officer at Ubihere (2023-2026), Chief Strategy Officer at Lighthouse Avionics and Converge Technologies, Associate Director at Ohio State's Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence. Active startup investor via OTAF and individually.
Career History
From software engineer to CEO to founder
Every step has been about turning innovative technology into commercial outcomes, often through federal funding.
Founded to help small businesses identify, engage, and win non-dilutive federal R&D funding. The company combines the proven commercialization playbook with custom AI agents trained per-customer and curated by human experts.
Led the geospatial AI company toward commercialization of patented positioning analytics for asset tracking and vision-based business intelligence. Built the engineering and support teams that realized founder Dr. Alper Yilmaz's vision.
Led pre-seed investments in Ohio-based technology startups. Established partnership with Ohio Third Frontier's Pre-Seed Fund Capitalization Program. Direct role in due diligence and portfolio growth.
Drove federal program capture for the geospatial analytics company, securing R&D funding that fueled the core patented technology platform.
Built a statewide support system for manufacturing-ecosystem technology commercialization. Led development of new programs including the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and student experiential entrepreneurship (E3) programs.
Evaluated university technologies and determined the best commercialization path — licensing, partnership, joint venture, or new startup. Oversaw the successful launch of 22+ companies founded on licensed OSU IP.
Led strategic vision, acquisitions, and organic growth for the aerospace & defense commercialization company. Grew from 400 to 750+ employees with 70% CAGR and $270M+ in annual revenue. 15 global offices.
Established a new operating division that grew from 14 to 110+ revenue-generating employees via organic growth alone. Launched the company's first commercial software product (awarded a patent). Assisted in two synergistic acquisitions.
Technically managed custom software development for federal customers. Grew to 14 employees across 4 programs and established the company's overseas presence in Germany (now 30% of company revenue).
Technical lead on a $1.5M/year development effort requiring detailed requirements gathering and analysis. Grew from software developer into program lead. Received multiple customer satisfaction and product awards.
Education
The Ohio State University
Executive MBA
Business Administration, Management and Operations · 2008 – 2009
B.S., Computer Science
The Ohio State University · 1995 – 1998
Recognition
A recognized lean-launch and commercialization development professional
- Adjunct instructor (3 years) for I-Corps@Ohio — training scientists and engineers in lean startup methods
- Trustee at Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center (2012–2013), on the finance committee during their successful capital campaign
- Awarded patent for early commercial software launch at DSCI
- Employee of the Year (DSCI)
- Active startup investor — OTAF and individual investments in early-stage tech companies
Ready to work together?
I'm taking 20 founding members. Apply if you're serious.
If you're commercializing innovative technology and want non-dilutive federal R&D funding, let's talk.
Apply Now