o Zeno Power Lands $50 Million to Develop Nuclear Batteries
o Reston-based Kovr.ai Raises $3.6 Million in Seed Funding
o DC-based Scrypted Acquires Chibi Clash; AI Agents for Gaming
o Ashburn-based DXC Technology Moves to Lock in Key Executives
o Briefly Noted: Excella, Inovalon, EM1
Zeno Power Lands $50 Million to Develop Nuclear Batteries
Washington, DC – Zeno Power, a developer of nuclear batteries with offices in DC and Seattle, has raised $50 million in its second round of funding, led by Hanaco Ventures. In addition, Seraphim, Balerion Space Ventures, JAWS, Vanderbilt University, RiverPark Ventures, Stage 1 Ventures, 7i Capital and Beyond Earth Ventures also participated in the round. Zeno has secured over $60 million in contracts from the Department of Defense and NASA to develop nuclear batteries for maritime and space applications, such as seabed infrastructure, highly maneuverable satellites and lunar landers. John Richardson, a retired admiral in the U.S. Navy, has joined the company’s board of directors.
“With great power competition rising, the ocean floor, Arctic and lunar surface are becoming the front lines of global security and economic progress – but they remain energy deserts,” said co-founder and CEO Tyler Bernstein. “With this round of funding, we’re on track to demonstrate full-scale systems in 2026 and deliver the first commercially built nuclear batteries to power frontier environments by 2027.”
Reston-based Kovr.ai Raises $3.6 Million in Seed Funding
Reston, Va. – Kovr.ai, a Reston-based AI compliance automation startup, has emerged from stealth with $3.6 million in seed funding. The financing was led by IronGate and Xfund with participation from Hack Factory, OODA Ventures and McLean Capital. The company was co-founded by Andrew Black and Sri Iyer, former executives at AWS, Gartner, and PwC. Kovr’s platform helps organizations in highly regulated industries meet regulatory requirements.
“The timing for our launch couldn’t be better. With SWFT and FedRAMP transitioning to automation and AI, Kovr.ai is the only provider ready to meet the needs of companies and government agencies,” said Sri Iyer, co-founder and CTO of Kovr.ai. “Our platform is a force multiplier for enterprises who need to scale their cyber assurance to meet the innovation demands of their customers.”
DC-Based Scrypted Acquires Chibi Clash; AI Agents for Gaming
Washington, DC – Scrypted, a DC-based developer of AI agent technology for social media, gaming and decentralized applications, said on Thursday it has acquired Chibi Clash, a gaming ecosystem featuring the popular titles Kingdoms and Survivor. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company, which also has an office in Manassas, said the move will add game engine and web3 technology to its core Autonomous Virtual Beings (AVB) framework for AI agents. In December, Scrypted announced that it raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed round.
"AI Agents are the future, and Chibi Clash is the perfect place to prototype and showcase how we can make games more dynamic and personalized," said CEO Tim Cotten. "Our goal is to create a new generation of gaming experiences – autonomous and creative in a way that embraces the best of human game designers with the speed and reaction-time of artificial intelligence."
Ashburn-Based DXC Technology Moves to Lock in Key Executives
Ashburn, Va. – In a move to retain two key executives, Ashburn-based technology services giant DXC Technology announced its board has approved special equity grants to Raul Fernandez, president and CEO, and Rob Del Bene, executive vice president and CFO. The moves are designed to keep both in place through fiscal 2028. The agreements “reflect the board’s confidence in the executive team’s strategic vision and operational execution,” the company said in a press release. Fernandez was appointed permanent president and CEO in early 2024 after serving since late 2023 in an interim role, and Del Bene has served as CFO since mid-2023.
Briefly Noted
(Arlington, Va.) Arlington-based technology consulting firm Excella has named Tammy McChain as its vice president of national security. McChain most recently served as the chief delivery officer at Brillient, and earlier held several executive leadership positions at NTT Data, including senior vice president and COO of Federal Health and Civilian.
(Bowie, Md.) Bowie-based Inovalon, a developer of software used in data-driven healthcare, has named Karly Rowe as the president of its Provider Business Unit. Rowe has been with the company since 2022, most recently serving as the senior vice president of product in its provider business.
(Washington, DC) DC-based EM1, a developer of resilient and tech-enabled emergency response systems, has named Tom Sivak as its chief emergency manager. Sivak previously served as FEMA’s Region 5 Administrator, leading operations across six states and 36 tribal nations.