Potomac Tech Wire - Feb. 10
Tharros Receives $30 Million Investment from Blue Delta
o Tharros Receives $30 Million Investment from Blue Delta
o Alexandria-based Branded Realities Raises $1.6 Million in Seed
o McLean-based By Light Acquires Florida-based Dignitas
o TEDCO Invests $500,000 in Frederick-based KnowledgeNet.ai
o Virginia Tech Receives $20 Million Gift for Med School Scholarships
> This Thursday: GovCon Outlook 2026 - Reston
o Briefly Noted: HiLabs, TekSynap
Tharros Receives $30 Million Investment from Blue Delta Capital Partners
Fulton, Md. – Tharros, a Maryland-based federal cybersecurity company, announced that it has received a $30 million investment from Tysons-based Blue Delta Capital Partners. Formerly known as ANALYGENCE, Tharros said the investment will be used to scale its capabilities, expand its employee base, and make ‘tuck-in’ acquisitions.
“This partnership is about more than just capital. It’s about having the right strategic partners as we invest in our people and double down on innovation,” said Lonnie Parker, founder and CEO of Tharros. “Our goal is to ensure our customers can operate with total confidence to never allow cyber threats to stop the mission regardless of how the threat landscape shifts.”
Alexandria-based Branded Realities Raises $1.6 Million in Seed
Alexandria, Va. – Branded Realities, an Alexandria-based startup developing AI kiosks for sports and entertainment venues, announced that it has raised $1.6 million in seed funding. The company was co-founded by Erik Muendel, who previously founded Brightline Interactive, which was sold to Glimpse Group for $32.5 million. The company’s kiosks, branded as Pose With, are already being used by the Dallas Cowboys, the Boston Celtics/Boston Bruins and Disney/AT&T.
“The magic of Pose With™ is bringing fans closer to the teams and the players that they love. Our platform makes it easy for all venues to create and innovate while the return on advertising spend to sponsors is also magic,” said Muendel.
McLean-based By Light Acquires Florida-based Dignitas
McLean, Va. – By Light Professional IT Services, a McLean-based modeling and simulation firm (and portfolio company of Sagewind Capital), announced that it has acquired Orlando-based Dignitas Technologies, a training and modeling company. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“The acquisition of Dignitas strategically broadens By Light’s existing capabilities within modeling & simulation and virtual training,” said Bob Donahue, Founder and CEO of By Light. “Dignitas expands our product and solutions offering in the critical areas of cyber training, virtual cyber effects and live, virtual and constructive training in multi-echelon simulations across the DoD.”
TEDCO Invests $500,000 in Frederick-based KnowledgeNet.ai
Frederick, Md. – TEDCO, the Maryland state economic development agency, announced that it has made a $500,000 venture investment in Frederick-based KnowledgeNet.ai, a company using AI to develop a centralized platform for managing customer and sales data. The investment comes from TEDCO’s Venture Funds.
“By unifying relationship data across corporate data silos such as emails, calendars, CRMs, financial systems, ERPs, and other systems, we help teams work smarter, move faster, and make better decisions,” said Mehdi Tehranchi, CEO of KnowledgeNet.ai. “This funding allows us to accelerate product innovation, deepen integrations with existing workflows, and continue building from Maryland as an artificial intelligence leader as we scale our impact.”
Virginia Tech Receives $20 Million Gift for Medical School Scholarships
Roanoke, Va. – In the largest single scholarship commitment to Virginia Tech in its history, the university announced that it has received a $20 million gift from alumni couple Jim and Augustine Smith that will be used for in-state scholarships to its medical school.
“I want to thank Jim and Augustine for their visionary investment in our students that not only honors the promise of this school but accelerates our ability to educate and retain physicians in Virginia,” said Lee Learman, dean of the Virginia Tech Carilion (VTC) School of Medicine. “By easing the financial burden of medical education, this gift will help ensure that more talented Virginians can pursue careers in medicine and ultimately serve communities that need doctors the most.”
GovCon Outlook 2026 - Feb. 12 (Reston)
Briefly Noted
(Washington, DC) HiLabs, a DC-based healthcare data technology company, has named Chris Gengo as its chief innovation officer. Gengo has held executive roles at CareSource, Baylor Scott & White Health and WellCare.
(Reston, Va.) TekSynap, a Reston-based IT firm for the government and military, has named Lavar McDowell as Vice President of Army Strategy. McDowell was most recently Vice President of Business Development – Defense at Tyto Athene.