Potomac Tech Wire - Nov. 14
Maryland-based Forterra Raises $238 Million in Series C
o Maryland-based Forterra Raises $238 Million in Series C
o McLean-based BigBear.ai to Acquire Ask Sage for $250 Million
o McLean-based AI Startup Trase Raises $10.5 Million
o Strategy Stock Down 20% This Week With Fall in Bitcoin
o Reston-based EnterOne Makes “Acquihire” of Lumious
o Workday to Open New Office in Reston; 200 New Jobs
o Briefly Noted: Ellucian, Kajeet
Maryland-based Forterra Raises $238 Million in Series C
Clarksburg, Md – In one of the largest funding rounds this year for a DC area company, Forterra, a Clarksburg, Md.-based defense and logistics technology company focused on autonomous transportation systems, has closed on a $238 million equity and debt Series C round. The round was led by Moore Strategic Ventures, and included new investors Salesforce Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Balyasny Asset Management, 645 Ventures, Hanwha Asset Management, 9Yards Capital and NightDragon, with participation from existing investors XYZ Venture Capital, Hedosophia and Enlightenment Capital. The company builds hardware and software for autonomous systems, such as self-driving vehicles and swarms of robots.
“Forterra has successfully delivered both the hardware and operating system needed for the future of autonomous ground operations,” said Robert Keith, Partner at Salesforce Ventures. “They are among the few leading defense technology companies that have secured contracts with impactful programs of record. We’re excited to support this exceptional team on their growth journey.”
McLean-based BigBear.ai to Acquire Ask Sage for $250 Million
McLean, Va. – In a major acquisition for the local AI space, McLean-based BigBear.ai announced that it will acquire Bentonville, Va.-based Ask Sage, a generative AI platform for the defense and national security markets, for $250 million. BigBear.ai said the acquisition will provide it with about $25 million of annual recurring revenues in 2025. CFO Sean Ricker said the acquisition is part of BigBear.ai’s M&A strategy to “drive rapid growth.”
“Today, I’m thrilled to announce that BigBear.ai has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ask Sage, a cutting-edge and fast-growing Generative AI platform for secure distribution of AI models and agentic AI capabilities, built specifically for defense and national security agencies and other highly-regulated sectors,” said Kevin McAleenan, CEO of BigBear.ai. “Ask Sage already supports more than 100,000 users on 16,000 government teams and across hundreds of commercial companies. It is a turnkey platform that’s in production today, at scale, in the environments that matter most.”
McLean-based AI Startup Trase Raises $10.5 Million
McLean, Va. – Red Cell Partners, a McLean investor and startup developer focused on the national security and healthcare markets, announced the emergence from stealth mode of Trase, which has raised $10.5 million in pre-seed funding from Red Cell and Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC)’s Virginia Venture Partners. Trase has developed a platform for deploying AI agents.
“AI adoption is failing. That’s because implementing AI at scale is exceptionally hard, messy, and its value, to date, has been difficult to prove. Trase was built to solve for the last mile of adoption by delivering agentic solutions that enable organizations to successfully deploy AI and unlock its full promise,” said Grant Verstandig, founder of Red Cell Partners and co-founder and CEO of Trase.
Strategy Stock Down 23% This Week With Fall in Bitcoin
McLean, Va. – Strategy, the McLean-based Bitcoin holding company and enterprise software that changed its name from MicroStrategy last year, saw its stock down by over 23% this week on Friday, amid a sharp fall in the price of Bitcoin, which was down nearly 10% this week. Michael Saylor, co-founder and executive chairman of Strategy, denied online rumors that the company was selling bitcoin and said his firm has actually been accumulating more Bitcoin this week.
“We are buying Bitcoin. We’ll report our next buys on Monday morning,” Saylor said on CNBC. “I think people will be pleasantly surprised. In fact, we’ve been accelerating our purchases.”
College Park-based IonQ Forms Partnership with UChicago
College Park, Md. – College Park-based quantum computing company IonQ announced a strategic agreement with the University of Chicago this week. Under the deal, the company will develop the IonQ Center for Engineering and Science on the UChicago campus and deliver a next-generation quantum computer and network to the university.
“This foundational agreement with the University of Chicago will fuel IonQ’s innovation engine, marking the first time IonQ’s production-grade quantum computer and entanglement distribution quantum network will be deployed on a university campus,” said Niccolo de Masi, Chairman and CEO of IonQ. “We’re combining our commercial-grade quantum computers with some of the world’s leading academic talent to generate innovations with valuable real-world applications.”
Reston-based EnterOne Makes “Acquihire” of Lumious
Reston, Va. – EnterOne, a Reston-based technology training company, announced an “acquihire” of Lumious, a provider of IT services for the education sector. EnterOne said the move to hire employees from Lumious, previously named Tech2000, will allow it to expand in the B2B education and training sector. “We are thrilled to join forces with EnterOne,” said Kevin Marz, CEO of Lumious. “Together, we will redefine the future of workforce development and deliver even greater value to our clients.”
Workday to Open New Office in Reston; 200 New Jobs
Reston, Va. – Workday, the HR software company, announced that it will open a new office in Reston to serve as a “regional hub” for the region and its public sector operations. In the spring it will move out of its current space in Tysons to the new Reston office. The company said the new office will result in 200 new jobs in the area. Over the summer, Workday launched a new government-focused subsidiary – Workday Government – aimed at the federal market.
“In government, modernization is mission-critical,” said Lynn Martin, president, Workday Government. “As agencies embrace cloud and AI to strengthen readiness and improve efficiency, our new Reston office reinforces our commitment to supporting their transformation — creating local opportunities, deepening regional ties, and helping them achieve their missions with confidence.”
Briefly Noted
(Reston, Va.) Ellucian, a Reston-based higher education technology firm, has named Daniel Greenstein as its new Chief of Industry Transformation. Greenstein most recently served as Chancellor of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.
(McLean, Va.) Kajeet, a McLean-based telecommunications and connectivity company, has named Paul Holtz as its CFO. Holtz was formerly the CFO at KORE Wireless.