o PitchBook: Virginia Records Strong Q1 For Venture Investments
o DC-based Arcadia Raises $50 Million in Financing Round
o Blue Delta Invests in Germantown-based Herrick Technology
o Washington Harbour Invests $60 Million in Reston-based Raft LLC
o Accenture Federal, Google Form Data & AI Center of Excellence
o Reston-Based Bowman Consulting Group to Acquire Surdex
o Briefly Noted: Dexian, Verato, Zephyr AI, Expel, Hughes Network Systems, Medcura
PitchBook: Virginia Records Strong Q1 For Venture Investments
Washington, Va – Bucking a national downturn in venture capital investing, Virginia experienced a strong first quarter for total venture capital investments, according to the most recent PitchBook/NVCA Venture Monitor. The report showed that $603 million was invested in 41 deals in Virginia, a sharp rebound from the $345 million invested in 65 deals in Q4. Maryland and the District of Columbia did not fare so well in the first quarter. Maryland saw a sharp contraction in venture investing with $340 million invested in 31 venture deals (see chart below). In the District, $48 million was invested across 12 deals. Healthcare investments were key components to the deal totals for the region in the first quarter (see chart below).
DC-based Arcadia Raises $50 Million in Financing Round
Washington, DC – Arcadia, a DC-based solar energy technology company, announced that it has raised $50 million in a growth financing round. Investors in the round included a new investment from Macquarie Asset Management, along with previous investors Energy Impact Partners, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, BoxGroup, G2 Venture Partners, Camber Creek, Triangle Peak Partners and Broadscale Group. "With this funding, Arcadia can continue to meet growing demand from our 300+ enterprise customers and 75+ community solar developer partners, all of whom are accelerating deployment and adding new solutions like battery storage, heat pumps, and EV charging to their portfolios," said Kiran Bhatraju, founder and CEO of Arcadia.
Blue Delta Capital Invests in Germantown-based Herrick Technology
Tysons, Va. – Blue Delta Capital Partners, a Tysons-based venture capital firm focused on the federal market, announced that it has invested $25 million in Germantown-based Herrick Technology Laboratories, a developer of signals intelligence (SIGINT) and electronic warfare (EW) offerings. Herrick designs and manufactures integrated hardware and software products
“We are thrilled to partner with Blue Delta and have them join our team. Their investment will allow us to accelerate fielding the cutting-edge SIGINT and EW products and solutions that we provide to U.S. Government Defense and Intelligence customers, as well as our Nation’s allies,” said Acie Vickers, CEO and co-founder of HTL. “This investment will also further enhance our ability to execute strategic tuck-in acquisitions.”
Washington Harbour Invests $60 Million in Reston-based Raft LLC
Arlington, Va. – Washington Harbour Partners, an Arlington-based private investment firm, announced that it has made a $60 million in Reston-based Raft LLC, a software engineering firm focused on providing technologies to the Department of Defense. Founded in 2018, Raft develops a variety of technology for the “digital battlefield.”
“Our partnership with Washington Harbour will accelerate Raft’s mission of ushering in a new paradigm for the modern warfighter, across all domains of air, land, sea, space and cyber,” said Shubhi Mishra, founder and CEO of Raft. “Next generation, advanced technologies are transforming how wars are initiated, fought, resolved, won, and deterred. Washington Harbour’s deep knowledge of our industry, shared vision, and expansive strategic relationships all give me great confidence and excitement in continuing to serve our customers and our country, especially at the mission’s edge.”
Accenture Federal Teams with Google on Data & AI Center of Excellence
Arlington, Va. – Accenture Federal Services, the Arlington-based provider of management and technology consulting services to the federal government, said it has teamed with Google Public Sector to launch a Data & Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence to support federal agencies. The companies said the center will help federal agencies modernize citizen services with technologies such as Google Cloud generative AI. “We look forward to helping clients rapidly prototype, build, automate and scale AI,” said John Goodman, CEO of Accenture Federal Services. The move comes a year after Accenture Federal Services and Google Public Sector launched a Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, powered by the threat intelligence of Mandiant.
Reston-Based Bowman Consulting Group to Acquire Surdex
Reston, Va. – Bowman Consulting Group, a Reston-based provider of engineering services, said it will pay $44 million to acquire St. Louis-based geospatial and engineering services firm Surdex. The deal is expected to close by April 10. Founded in 1954, Surdex offers an array of high-resolution orthoimagery, LiDAR and digital mapping services. Gary Bowman, the chairman and CEO of Bowman, said the move will help with “expanding our geospatial service offerings, growing our public sector market presence and increasing the average size of our acquisitions.”
Briefly Noted:
(McLean, Va.) Dexian, a McLean-based provider of staffing, IT and workforce services, has filled two key executive roles, hiring Chris Conover as its CFO and promoting Tara Winn to the newly created role of COO. Conover most recently served as the CFO of Lawn & Garden and previously was the CFO of HC Salon Holdings (Hair Cuttery). Winn has been with the company since 2009, most recently serving as its chief of staff. Dexian was created in 2023 from the combination of DISYS, Signature Consultants and other acquisitions.
(McLean, Va.) McLean-based Verato, a developer of a cloud identity platform for the healthcare industry, has named Andy Dé as its CMO. Dé most recently served as the CMO of MedeAnalytics, and earlier led the healthcare and life sciences business at Tableau Software.
(McLean, Va.) McLean-based Zephyr AI, a developer of AI tools used in precision medicine, has named Rachael Brake as its chief scientific officer. Brake, who will lead the company’s scientific, strategic and commercial efforts, is the former chief scientific officer at Corbus Pharmaceuticals.
(Herndon, Va.) Herndon-based Expel, developer of a managed detection and response platform, said it has promoted Cat Starkey to the role of CTO. Starkey previously served as the company’s vice president of engineering, and earlier was the director of engineering at Armature.
(Germantown, Md.) Germantown-based Hughes Network Systems, a unit of Echostar providing broadband equipment and managed services, said it has won a production contract from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI). Under the deal, the company will produce a key component of the satellite communications system for the MQ-1C Gray Eagle 25M Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS).
(Riverdale, Md.) Riverdale-based Medcura, a developer of hemostatic products used in surgery, said it has raised $22.4 million through a private placement of convertible notes. The company said it plans to use the proceeds to accelerate the development of its lead surgical product, LifeGel Absorbable Hemostatic Gel.