Potomac Tech Wire - Nov. 14

University of Maryland to Hire 40 New Faculty Members With Focus on AI

o UMD to Hire 40 New Faculty Members With Focus on AI
o Microporous to Invest $1.35 Billion in Virginia Over 10 Years
o Startup Applications Open for Accelerate Breakfast in January
o McLean-Based Integral Federal Acquires Reston’s Pragmatics
o FiscalNote Co-Founder Tim Hwang to Step Down as CEO
o Periscope Equity Invests in DC-based Reservoir Communications
o CACI Completes Acquisition of Fairfax’s Azure Summit Technology
o Charlottesville-Based Silverchair to Acquire ScholarOne
o Briefly Noted: Healthcare Private Equity Association, Level Access, BryceTech

University of Maryland to Hire 40 New Faculty Members With Focus on AI

College Park, Md. – In what it calls the most significant faculty expansion in its history, the University of Maryland announced on Thursday that it plans to hire 40 new faculty members with expertise in AI. The faculty – spread across different colleges and schools on the campus – will support the Artificial Intelligence Interdisciplinary Institute at Maryland (AIM). The university, along with other partners, is expected to contribute over $100 million to the Institute over the next ten years.

"Interdisciplinary collaboration is a hallmark of our institute, as we are dedicated to both the computer science side of AI and how the technology is studied and used in everything from the arts and education to journalism, business, engineering and social sciences like psychology, political science, and gender and women's studies," said Hal Daumé III, the director of AIM and a professor in the Department of Computer Science. "We are looking for faculty who will bring diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives to our campus to help ensure we are considering this rapidly evolving field from every possible angle."

Microporous to Invest $1.35 Billion in Virginia Over 10 Years

Richmond, Va. – Beating out a competing offer from North Carolina, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced this week that energy battery maker Microporous will invest $1.35 billion to create a new manufacturing plant in Southern Virginia. The new facility will be located in Pittsylvania County and is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs. “With the new facility in Berry Hill, Microporous is taking a major step toward the future of energy storage technology,” said John Reeves, CEO of Microporous. Trent Capital Partners acquired Microporous last year.

Startup Applications Open for Accelerate Breakfast in January

Fairfax, Va. – The Accelerate Breakfast Series, a quarterly event for early-stage companies to pitch their business plans to investors, has opened up applications for its January event. Presenting companies should be seeking between $500,000 and $2 million. Five founders will be chosen to pitch their company before investors and other members of the DC area’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. More information is available here.

McLean-Based Integral Federal Acquires Reston’s Pragmatics

McLean, Va. – Integral Federal, a McLean-based provider of national security technology to defense, intelligence and federal civilian agencies, said it has acquired Reston-based IT company Pragmatics. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Integral said the move will help bolster its capabilities in areas such as Agile development and DevSecOps in the cloud, as well as add a client base that includes national security government agencies.

FiscalNote Co-Founder Tim Hwang to Step Down as CEO

Washington, DC – With its stock price down nearly 23% this year, FiscalNote, the DC-based developer of software designed to help customers manage political and business risk, said on Tuesday that co-founder Tim Hwang will step down as its CEO following nearly 12 years at the helm. Josh Resnik, the company’s current president and VOO, will take over as CEO, effective Jan. 1. Hwang will become executive chairman, focusing on FiscalNote’s strategic initiatives and the continuity as it enters its next phase of growth. Since co-founding FiscalNote in 2013, Hwang has transformed the company from a Silicon Valley startup into an AI SaaS company with more than 4,000 customers.

Periscope Equity Invests in DC-based Reservoir Communications

Washington, DC – Reservoir Communications Group, a DC-based healthcare consulting firm, announced that it has received a new investment from Chicago-based private equity firm Periscope Equity. Financial details on the transaction, which the parties called an “investment partnership,” were not disclosed. The firms said Periscope will provide “enhanced technology, infrastructure, and staffing support” to Reservoir, which provides its services to healthcare companies, trade associations and non-profit organizations.

CACI Completes Acquisition of Fairfax’s Azure Summit Technology

Reston, Va. – Two months after initially announcing the deal, Reston-based defense technology company CACI International said it has completed its $1.28 billion acquisition of Fairfax-based Azure Summit Technology, a developer of radio frequency hardware and software technology used by national security clients. More than 300 Azure Summit employees have now joined CACI, which said the move will help bolster its offerings to the Department of Defense focused on the electromagnetic spectrum.

Charlottesville-Based Silverchair to Acquire ScholarOne

Charlottesville, Va. – Silverchair, the Charlottesville-based developer of a content management system for scholarly and professional publishers, said it will acquire Charlottesville neighbor ScholarOne, a provider of manuscript submission, peer review and editorial management software and services, from parent Clarivate. Financial terms of the deal, expected to close by the end of the year, were not disclosed. ScholarOne’s submission platforms serve more than 600 publishers and enable more than 3 million manuscripts and conference abstracts a year, representing more than half of the total output of the scholarly community.

Briefly Noted

(Charlottesville, Va.) The Charlottesville-based Healthcare Private Equity Association (HCPEA), a nonprofit trade association focused on convening and supporting the healthcare investment community, has named H.I.G. Capital’s Geoff Lieberthal as board chair and Fazle Husain of CVC Capital Partners as vice chair. Lieberthal is a Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital, and Husain is the head of U.S. healthcare at CVC Capital Partners.

(Arlington, Va.) Arlington-based Level Access, a developer of digital tools designed to help clients achieve and maintain compliance with accessible technology regulations and standards, has named Rachel Roberts as its new chief revenue officer. Roberts most recently served as the chief revenue officer of Cisco’s AppDynamics.

(Alexandria, Va.) Alexandria-based BryceTech, a provider of systems engineering, program management and analytics services to government agencies, said it has won a five-year contract from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Under the deal, the company will help the agency identify and evaluate emerging threats.