Potomac Tech Wire - June 4
D.C.-based Shifters Raises $10.2 Million in Seed Funding
o D.C.-based Shifters Raises $10.2 Million in Seed Funding
o Arlington-based CoStar to Acquire Zonda For $800 Million
o D.C.-based Enduring Climate Closes on $12 Million Fund
o Paladin Leads Series A Investment in NC-based Arpio
o Arlington-based Bloomberg Industry Acquires Regology
o McLean-based Valiant Solutions Acquires BreakPoint Labs
o Virginia-based OMNI Acquires Nara Logics
> Mid-Atlantic MarCom Summit - Oct. 14 (Washington, D.C.)
o Briefly Noted: Everfox, HawkEye 360, Blend360
D.C.-based Shifters Raises $10.2 Million in Seed Funding
Washington, D.C. – Shifters, a D.C.-based developer of autonomous robotic systems using AI, has raised $10.2 million in seed funding. The round was led by Ace Capital Partners, with participation from Aurelius Capital Management, Corner Ventures, Arkin Capital, STEP World and Fresh Fund. The company said its robotic systems are used for rugged and dangerous environments.
“The first asset into a dangerous environment should increasingly be a robot, not a person,” said Ofer Ballin, CEO and co-founder of Shifters. “This funding allows us to accelerate the systems that make that possible: coordinated robotic teams that can be directed, intuitively, by one operator, adapt to complex ground environments and reduce human exposure before a mission escalates.”
Arlington-based CoStar to Acquire Zonda For $800 Million
Arlington, Va. – CoStar, the Arlington-based real estate marketplace and data company, announced that it has reached a deal to acquire California-based Zonda, a provider of software and analytics for the home construction industry, for $800 million in cash. Zonda’s platform is used by over 3,000 customers.
“Zonda has built an extraordinary business with deep relationships across the homebuilding industry and one of the most valuable proprietary datasets in new home real estate,” said Andy Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar Group. “This acquisition extends CoStar Group’s leadership into a major new segment of the real estate industry and strengthens our ability to provide clients with comprehensive information solutions across every major real estate segment.”
D.C.-based Enduring Climate Closes on $12 Million for Second Fund
Washington, D.C. – Enduring Climate, a D.C.-based venture fund focused on climate startups, announced the close of its $12 million second fund. The firm, which also has a major presence in the Pacific Northwest, aims to support early-stage climate innovators.
“Our mission remains simple and steadfast: provide fast, flexible, non-dilutive financing to early-stage climate innovators,” wrote Dimitry Gershenson, founder and CEO of Enduring Climate, in a LinkedIn post. “Across both funds, we have now deployed nearly $40 million to support just over 70 climate startups and SMBs.”
Paladin Leads Series A Investment in NC-based Arpio
Washington, D.C. – Paladin Capital Group, the D.C.-based venture capital firm, has led a Series A round in Durham, N.C.-based Arpio, an AI-based cloud recovery platform. Other investors in the round included Draper Associates, Uncorrelated, Valor Ventures, CreativeCo Capital and Lookout Ventures.
“Ransomware has permanently raised the bar for resilience. It’s no longer enough for a workload to come back. Recovery has to be automated, near instantaneous, and trusted, and legacy disaster recovery tools simply can’t do that,” said Tom Clute, a principal at Paladin Capital Group. “Nearly every day brings another headline about an organization that couldn’t recover when it mattered most.”
Arlington-based Bloomberg Industry Group Acquires Regology
Arlington, Va. – Bloomberg Industry Group, based in Arlington, announced that it has acquired Palo Alto-based Regology, an AI-powered regulatory intelligence platform. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bloomberg said the acquisition will expand its law, tax, and government affairs offerings with “AI-driven regulatory change management capabilities.” Regology’s platform continuously monitors U.S. federal and state regulations, along with international regulations.
“This acquisition expands how we support customers who have been telling us they are managing increased regulatory complexity,” said Josh Eastright, CEO of Bloomberg Industry Group. “By bringing together Regology’s global regulatory coverage and advanced AI with the data, news, and intelligence of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, we’re helping organizations move faster from awareness to action.”
McLean-based Valiant Solutions Acquires BreakPoint Labs
McLean, Va. – Valiant Solutions, a McLean-based cybersecurity firm, announced on Monday the acquisition of Falls Church-based BreakPoint Labs, a cybersecurity company focused on defense and national security clients. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The deal marks Valiant’s second acquisition in six months and expands its capabilities in areas including operational technology security, advanced penetration testing, and cybersecurity workflow automation.
Virginia-based OMNI Acquires Nara Logics
Gainesville, Va. – OMNI, a Virginia-based software provider to defense and intelligence agencies, announced that it has acquired Nara Logics, a Boston-based AI company focused on government and defense clients. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “By combining Nara Logics’ explainable AI platform with OMNI’s zero-trust data solutions, we are giving the customer the ultimate decision advantage, delivering trusted, secure, and discoverable intelligence across classified and compartmentalized networks,” said Parag Thakker, CEO of OMNI.
Briefly Noted
(Herndon, Va.) Everfox, a Herndon-based cybersecurity company, has named Ted Girard as its chief revenue officer. Girard most recently served as vice president of public sector at Snowflake.
(Herndon, Va.) HawkEye 360, the Herndon-based signals intelligence company, has named Alex Johnson as its SVP of Engineering and Systems Operations, and EJ Kreinar as Deputy, Engineering & System Operations. Johnson formerly worked at L3Harris Technologies. Kreinar served as vice president of engineering at HawkEye 360, a role he will continue.
(Columbia, Md.) Blend360, a Maryland-based AI services firm, announced that it is acquiring In516ht, a data engineering company based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Blend360 said the acquisition will expand its capabilities in the Snowflake Data Cloud ecosystem.