Potomac Tech Wire - Oct. 10
Alexandria-Based HyperSpectral Raises $7 Million in New Funding Round
o Alexandria-Based HyperSpectral Raises $7 Million in New Funding
o McLean-Based Xcelerate Solutions Acquires Columbia’s clearAvenue
o Charlottesville-Based BrightSpec Names Rick Gordon as CEO
o AWBC Launched Virtual Accelerator for Veteran-Owned Businesses
o Columbia-Based Kion Names Brian Wilson as CEO
o College Park-Based IonQ Completes Deal for Vector Atomic
o Briefly Noted: CTIA, FranConnect, RegScale
Alexandria-Based HyperSpectral Raises $7 Million in New Funding Round
Alexandria, Va. – HyperSpectral, an Alexandria-based spectral intelligence company focused on medical technology, food safety and defense, said it has raised $7 million in its A-2 round of funding, co-led by RRE Ventures and Kibo Ventures. New investors include Avalanche Thinking, whose chairman and CEO, Chuck Mattera, will become HyperSpectral’s chairman. The company said it will use the new funds to fuel accelerated development, expand partnerships and position the company for a Series B round in 2026. Emerging from stealth in 2024, HyperSpectral combines physics-based spectral data and AI to help clients make more informed decisions in industries like MedTech, food safety and defense
McLean-Based Xcelerate Solutions Acquires Columbia’s clearAvenue
McLean, Va. – Xcelerate Solutions, a McLean-based developer of enterprise vetting, critical infrastructure protection and cybersecurity tools, said this week that it has acquired Columbia-based clearAvenue, a provider of software development and cloud services to federal agencies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company, which will now have approximately 1,500 employees, said the move will give it a range of expanded capabilities and contracts.
“This acquisition marks a significant step forward in our technical capabilities,” said Mark Drever, the CEO of Xcelerate. “We’ve always had a solid foundation in digital transformation, but clearAvenue lets us take it to the next level. clearAvenue is one of the few companies with demonstrated past performance qualifications in AI and machine learning.”
Charlottesville-Based BrightSpec Names Rick Gordon as CEO
Charlottesville, Va. – BrightSpec, a Charlottesville-based developer of spectroscopy tools for the life sciences industry, has named Rick Gordon as its new CEO. Gordon most recently spent five years as the CEO of Halo Labs, which was acquired by Waters Corp. He earlier served in vice president roles at Phasefocus and Unchained Labs. “Rick brings exceptional experience in the scientific tools industry, which gives him a unique perspective on what makes BrightSpec truly special,” said Jenny Rooke, managing director and founder of Genoa Ventures, which invested in BrightSpec and was instrumental in the board’s CEO search. BrightSpec’s flagship product, spectraMRR, integrates computational chemistry and lab analytics to deliver precise molecular structure information.
DC-Based AWBC Launched Virtual Accelerator for Veteran-Owned Businesses
Washington, DC – The DC-based Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC) said on Tuesday it has launched a new virtual accelerator, designed to help veteran-owned businesses expand through e-commerce platforms. The eight-week program, called S.O.A.R. (Supporting Our Artisans & Retailers) Together Accelerator for Veterans, will deliver training in digital marketing, brand positioning, customer acquisition and optimization of online storefronts, with a concentrated module on how to tap into TikTok Shop’s direct-to-consumer capabilities. The first cohort begins in November and is open to U.S.-based businesses that are at least 51 percent veteran-owned and actively selling online. Applications close on October 15.
Columbia-Based Kion Names Brian Wilson as CEO
Columbia, Md. – Kion, the Columbia-based developer of an automated cloud operations and financial operations platform, has named Brian Wilson as its new CEO. He succeeds founder Brian Price, who will remain with the company as chief product officer. Wilson most recently served as the CEO of Monetate, and previously served as the chief customer officer of Zenoss and COO of Kibo Commerce. Kion’s platform is designed to help clients govern through improved visibility, automation, guardrails and guidance across multicloud environments. Clients include Indeed, Verizon, NASA and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
College Park-Based IonQ Completes Deal for Vector Atomic
College Park, Md. – Completing a deal first announced in September, College Park-based IonQ, a developer of quantum computing and networking systems, said it has closed its acquisition of Silicon Valley-based Vector Atomic, a developer of quantum sensors for positioning, navigation and timing. The company said the all-stock transaction will accelerate its entry into the quantum sensing market and strengthen its full-stack quantum platform. Vector Atomic, which has more than 75 employees, is a developer of sensing technology delivering ultra-precise picosecond timing capable of delivering major improvement in GPS accuracy.
Briefly Noted
(Washington, DC) DC-based wireless industry association CTIA has named Cristina Rodriguez to its board of directors. Rodriguez is the vice president and general manager of Intel’s Network & Edge Group
(Herndon, Va.) Herndon-based FranConnect, a provider of sales, operations and marketing tools for franchise and multi-location businesses, has named Adam Walton as its chief customer officer. Walton most recently served as the chief customer officer at Cresta, and earlier was the chief operating and customer officer at CallMiner.
(Tysons, Va.) Tysons-based RegScale, developer of a continuous controls monitoring platform, has named Chad Woolf as its chief product officer. Woolf previously spent 14 years as the vice president of security at Amazon Web Services, where he built AWS’s compliance programs from the ground up.