Potomac Tech Wire - June 12
Rockville-based Quantum Space to Go Public With SPAC Deal
o Rockville-based Quantum Space to Go Public With SPAC Deal
o 2X to Acquire Manassas-based Knownwell; Deal Valued at $400M
o Reston-based Woven Acquires Reston-based Insignis
o Fairfax-based 3Pillar Launches HelixAI, Names New CEO
o NuScale to Open Nuclear Center at UVA Wise
o Booz Allen Report Shows Risks of Chinese LLMs
> Mid-Atlantic MarCom Summit - Oct. 14 (Washington, D.C.)
o Briefly Noted: Casepoint, Tyto Athene, Optimoz, Cycurion, DecisionPoint Technologies
Rockville-based Quantum Space to Go Public With SPAC Deal
Rockville, Md. – Amid a surge of recent interest in the aerospace industry on Wall Street, Rockville-based Quantum Space, the developer of advanced maneuverable spacecraft, announced that it will go public later this year through a SPAC deal with Inflection Point Acquisition Corp. VI. Quantum said the deal gives it a pre-money equity value of $600 million; the post-merger value is expected at $1.2 billion. Quantum’s engineering and mission development facility is based in Rockville, with its testing facility in California, and a manufacturing facility under development in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company was co-founded by entrepreneur Kam Ghaffarian and Jim Bridenstine, the former NASA administrator.
“Quantum Space is defining the space national security industry at a pivotal moment for American space preeminence,” said Michael Blitzer, chairman of Inflection Point. “Its differentiated, highly maneuverable spacecraft has already earned meaningful traction with the U.S. national security space enterprise, including six contracts and pending proposals, as well as selection on the U.S. Space Force’s flagship Andromeda program.”
Philadelphia-based 2X to Acquire Manassas-based Knownwell; Combined Company Valued at $400 Million
Manassas, Va. – 2X, a Philadelphia-based B2B technology and services firm, announced the acquisition of Manassas-based Knownwell, a provider of AI customer retention and commercial intelligence. The transaction values the combined company at $400 million. As part of the transaction, David DeWolf, founder and CEO of Knownwell, has been named CEO of 2X. DeWolf has been on 2X’s board of directors since 2023. Knownwell’s technology analyzes conversations, emails, and user activity that shape customer interactions. In September it announced that it had raised $4 million in seed capital.
“The future is human + AI. A real Go-To-Market (GTM) operating system brings everything together—the people, the tools, the workflows—so teams can move faster and get better results with less friction,” said 2X Founder Dom Colasante. “The combination of Knownwell’s engineering capabilities with 2X’s global delivery engine creates a new category of GTM partner.”
Reston-based Woven Acquires Reston-based Insignis
Reston, Va. – Continuing a string of acquisitions, Woven Solutions, a Reston-based national security AI software company, announced that it will acquire Reston-based Insignis, a developer of cybersecurity software and engineering services. The deal is Woven’s fourth acquisition since the strategic investment from Falfurrias Management Partners last summer. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “Insignis is exactly the kind of team that will make our platform stronger – exceptional engineers, a culture focused on delivery, and capabilities that fit hand-in-glove with our own,” said Ajay Patel, CEO of Woven. “Bringing Insignis into Woven means more talent, stronger solutions, and better value for the customers and missions we serve.”
Fairfax-based 3Pillar Launches HelixAI, Names New CEO
Fairfax, Va. – In an expansion of its AI offering, Fairfax-based 3Pillar announced the appointment of AI executive Andres Angelani as its new CEO, and the launch of HelixAI, a new platform. Angelani was most recently the CEO of Wizeline and previously served as CEO of Softvision.
“The window for enterprises to secure a competitive advantage in the AI era is short, and winning requires doing two things at once: you have to transform while you perform,” said Angelani. “HelixAI is the product of that deep service DNA which evolved directly from our hands-on engineering work with clients over the last two years. We aren’t just handing over software, we are embedding our agentic Helix Pods into our clients’ teams to speed up the development of new AI-native software, modernize legacy systems and scale AI-driven operations safely, at pace, and in their controlled and carefully governed environments.”
NuScale to Open Nuclear Technology Center at UVA Wise
Wise, Va. – NuScale Power, an Oregon-based small modular reactor company, announced that it will open the 12th Energy Exploration (E2) Center at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. The center is funded by a grant from the Virginia Clean Energy Innovation Bank powered by the Virginia Department of Energy. It will provide training and simulation in the area of nuclear energy.
“We are excited for this new opportunity to help the region’s workforce gain hands-on experience with one of the world’s leading technologies,” said Donna P. Henry, Chancellor of UVA Wise. “The NuScale simulator will enhance our outreach programs, expand STEM outreach, and help increase understanding about energy possibilities while positioning Southwest Virginia at the forefront of clean energy workforce development.”
Booz Allen Report Shows Risks of Chinese LLMs to U.S Government
McLean, Va. – Booz Allen, the McLean-based consulting firm, released a new report that argues that Chinese-based large language models (LLMs) produce significantly more vulnerable code when prompted by a U.S. government persona. The report – called “What’s in America’s Code?” – evaluated four Chinese frontier models and one American model. The report is available here.
“The threat is not an obvious backdoor in the code,” Booz Allen said about the report. “In fact, we do not have proof at this point that code flaws are intentionally introduced. Still, Chinese models produced less secure code in general, and the vulnerabilities increased when the user appeared to be from the U.S. government. Further, Chinese models refused tasks Beijing deems politically sensitive. The potential for such code to become embedded in delivered systems is especially concerning because it could enable threat actors to bypass AI security guardrails and create downstream risks of dangerous inference behaviors. Traditional tools and benchmarks lack the sophistication required to catch this level of tradecraft.”
Briefly Noted
(Washington, D.C.) Casepoint, a Tysons-based AI-powered legal and compliance company, has named Paul Colangelo as its CEO. He is the founder of government software company Neumo.
(Reston, Va.) Tyto Athene, a Reston-based federal systems integrator backed by Arlington Capital Partners, announced that it has completed its acquisition of Texas-based Ready Support Services, a provider of cloud and technical services to U.S. intelligence agencies.
(Rockville, Md.) Optimoz, a Rockville-based provider of agentic AI tools for enterprises, announced that it has joined the AWS Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Accelerate Program. The program aims to connect AWS partners with new clients.
(McLean, Va.) Cycurion, a McLean-based cybersecurity company, has acquired Utah-based Secuvant, a cybersecurity company for $2.9 million in cash and stock. Former Secuvant CEO Ryan Layton is expected to serve as an advisor to the company during the business integration.
(Baltimore) DecisionPoint Technologies, a Baltimore-based supply chain technology company, has named Brian Bukowski as CEO and president. Bukowski previously served as president and chief revenue officer at DecisionPoint.