Rebuilding the Industrial Base

The Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) exists to close supply chain gaps that matter for US national security, gaps the private sector won’t fund on its own because the returns don’t pencil out. David Lorch walks through how it works: $210 billion in lending authority, a mandate to crowd in private capital alongside its own, and a National Security Capital Forum connecting national security companies with private investors. OSC measures success differently than a bank would. It isn’t chasing return multiples; it’s chasing national security impact, vetting each opportunity with partners in government to confirm it closes a real critical shortage before structuring flexible financing around it.

Lorch is candid about where the US has fallen behind: certain supply chains, batteries and the minerals behind them among them, became so subsidized overseas that it stopped being economical to build them domestically. OSC’s job is to help change that math, using its own capital and case-by-case financial engineering to make projects viable that otherwise wouldn’t be.

The office is also scaling fast: dozens of new hires in recent weeks, dozens more moving through security clearance, and a stated goal of moving from signed term sheet to credit agreement in as little as thirty days. Lorch’s message to founders and executives watching: reach out directly. OSC sees itself as a concierge, either funding a deal itself or pointing companies to the right federal partner.

Key Takeaways from the Conversation

• OSC exists to fill a financing gap, not compete with private capital. Its $210 billion in lending authority targets projects that are strategically important but not viable with all-equity or conventional private financing. In many of its deals, OSC’s capital is less than half of the total funding, with the rest coming from private investors it helped crowd in.
• Success is measured in national security impact, not ROI. OSC vets opportunities with partners across government to confirm they close a real supply chain gap before structuring terms, and the office says it doesn’t benefit from charging higher rates.
• The office covers a defined set of priority sectors: critical minerals, semiconductors, AI data centers, shipbuilding, space and satellite, drone and counter-drone, and advanced manufacturing, among others.
• It’s built to move fast. OSC says it can go from a signed term sheet to a closed credit agreement in as little as 30 days, and is actively hiring to handle a growing pipeline of opportunities.
• OSC sees itself as a “concierge.” Even when a deal isn’t a fit for OSC directly, the office says it will route founders to the right federal financing partner rather than leave them without a path forward.

Why This Conversation Matters

Companies that have manufactured in the US for decades, along with many newer ones, are increasingly turning to Washington for financing support as the country works to rebuild its industrial base and reduce reliance on overseas supply chains for materials critical to national security. This conversation is a plain-language guide to one of the newer, less understood tools in that effort, and to how a founder or executive should actually engage with it.

About the Guest

David Lorch is Director of the Office of Strategic Capital. He came to the role from the private sector rather than a military or traditional government background, after being asked to join by Deputy Secretary Feinberg.