Participated · Series C · Sep 2025

Shift5 builds an Operational Intelligence platform used by military customers and transportation companies to detect threats, anticipate failures, and improve fleet performance and security. The company was founded by former military officers who helped stand up U.S. Army Cyber Command and pioneered weapons‑system cyber assessments. Shift5 has launched capabilities including a Predictive Maintenance Module, GPS Integrity Module, a Multi‑Protocol Bus Interface Card, and Manifold 10. It has secured major defense contracts and strategic partnerships with Boeing, Avionica, ForeFlight, Booz Allen Hamilton, Carahsoft Technology Corp., and Amazon Web Services. The company says its platform is built for demanding field environments and is expanding across aviation, rail, maritime, and ground vehicle industries. Shift5 raised new capital in a Series C to accelerate deployment, R&D, go‑to‑market efforts, and market expansion. Shift5 builds a hardware-, serial-bus-, and protocol-agnostic platform that captures full-take data from onboard OT components and delivers real-time edge analytics and observability for commercial and military fleets. Over the last year the platform processed over 37 billion messages, identified more than 20 billion unique serial-bus events, flagged 1.8 million violations and elevated six critical alerts that required action. Shift5 supports multiple U.S. military branches and combatant commands (Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and U.S. Special Operations Command) and serves commercial aerospace and rail operators. The company more than doubled its ARR and customer count in the past year, increased deployment rate by 1,275%, captured over 8,500 operational hours, and secured a 92% retention rate with in-production customers. Shift5 achieved its first cross-platform Authority to Operate (ATO) Certification from the DoD and recently announced a partnership with JetBlue to bring cybersecurity and data observability to onboard avionics. The company has expanded its Arlington-based office footprint and grown its executive team as it scales operations. Shift5 provides visibility and security for operational-technology (OT) systems used in transportation, including on-board components for trains, aircraft and military equipment. Its platform aims to reduce attack surface, detect threats, and defend OT systems as they become increasingly connected to internet-facing networks. The company highlights that OT components are often unique and difficult to test in situ, creating gaps that attackers could exploit; CISA has warned of rising threats to critical infrastructure. Shift5 recently closed a $50M Series B led by Insight Partners, coming just a few months after a $20M Series A. The company said the new capital will fund hiring and ramped product development; it doubled headcount last year and landed several million-dollar deals. Insight Partners senior advisor Nick Sinai joined Shift5’s board as part of the round. Shift5 develops operational-technology cybersecurity and analytics solutions that integrate directly onto vehicle platforms, collecting and enriching data from on-board digital components and continuously monitoring data streams for security and operational anomalies. Its analytics platform provides intrusion detection, smarter maintenance, and improved operational intelligence for fleet operators, and includes firmware and configuration attestation plus capabilities to neutralize malicious or corrupted payloads. Shift5 also provides specialized services such as vulnerability research and capability development for OT cybersecurity. Customers use the platform across aviation, rail and metro, defense (including helicopters and other heavy fleet machinery) and commercial fleet operators. The company is trusted by the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and several of the largest U.S. passenger rail systems. Shift5 intends to use its recent funding to continue expanding operations and its business reach. Shift5 is an Arlington, Va.-based cybersecurity company that builds hardware and software products to defend weapon systems, air platforms, and commercial transportation systems. Led by co-founders Michael Weigand (CEO) and Dr. Josh Lospinoso (Chief Research Officer), the company works with military and commercial customers to implement cybersecurity solutions. Its core products — Shift5 Intake, Shift5 Engine and Shift5 Gauge Cluster — collect, enrich and analyze serial data running on internal communication networks. Features include intrusion detection and prevention based on static rules and machine-learning techniques, secure code delivery verification to electronic control units, and crew and maintenance fault reporting across many standard and custom protocols. Shift5 raised $2.5M in a seed round and will use the capital to acquire new customers and continue to grow its team.

Participated · Series B · Jan 2025

Hypori is a mobile access platform that enables secure virtual access to enterprise apps and data from any mobile device while preserving personal privacy. Its app never processes, stores, or transmits customer data and does not require traditional application or device management, relying on a zero-trust virtualization architecture. Hypori is used by systems integrators and regulated industries including defense, government, healthcare, and financial services. In 2024 the company expanded its sales team, won a $4.1M contract with the U.S. Air Force and Space Force and a $12M renewal with the U.S. Army, and earned FedRAMP "In Process" designation at a high impact level. With the new financing Hypori plans to accelerate adoption of zero-trust BYOD programs, scale deployments, fast-track product innovation, and broaden market reach into existing and new sectors. The company is headquartered in Reston, VA with a technology hub in Austin, TX. Hypori offers Hypori Halo, a zero-trust virtual workspace that eliminates data at rest or in transit on end-user devices. The product enables organizations to run BYOD programs while preventing data from residing on devices, reducing the risk of data loss and malware, and lowering hardware and software costs. Hypori cites deployments and customers in the Department of Defense, the defense industrial base, and commercial sectors including finance and health. The company emphasizes preserving end-user privacy and removing the edge as an attack surface. Hypori has won industry awards recognizing its secure BYOD solution and has been named a Best Place to Work. Headquartered in Reston, VA with a technology hub in Austin, TX, the company intends to use new capital to expand its position as a leading provider of zero-trust BYOD. Hypori provides an enterprise mobile security platform that protects corporate apps and data on personal devices by creating a virtual device environment. Its zero-trust approach has been forensically proven to prevent data transfer to or storage on the physical endpoint, enabling BYOD without device enrollment and reducing device-management and breach costs. Hypori enables employees to keep personal phones while the company controls the virtual device in a managed environment. The platform has been adopted by the U.S. Department of Defense and various Fortune 500 corporations. Hypori closed a $20 million Series A and will use proceeds to expand its platform into vertical markets including fintech and healthcare. The company is based in Austin, Texas and positions its technology to support secure remote work amid rising BYOD adoption driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hypori provides virtual mobile infrastructure (VMI) solutions designed to shield enterprises from the risks of BYOD. Its Android Cloud Environment (ACE) platform, co-developed with the U.S. Department of Defense, is a mobile-first thin client that delivers remote access to virtual mobile devices running in private, public or hybrid clouds and accessible from iPads, iPhones and Android endpoints. The platform supports multiple platforms, integrates with off-the-shelf mobile apps and Enterprise Mobile Management (EMM) technologies, and is positioned as a highly scalable Android-based infrastructure for commercial and public sector organizations. Hypori says its technology eliminates data-at-rest and separates personal and business personas to address security, compliance and privacy concerns. The company, founded in 2011 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, has been recognized as a finalist in the 2015 SXSW Accelerator and was invited to present in the Mobile World Congress Innovation program. Financially, Hypori has raised a total of $13.8 million after a $6.7 million Series-A1 tranche and plans to use the proceeds to ramp up commercial sales and execute an aggressive business plan targeting the growing VMI market.

Participated · Series C · Jan 2024

ThayerMahan delivers autonomous maritime surveillance solutions including deployment, operations, data gathering and analysis services for government and commercial clients. The company integrates acoustic and electronic sensors on a variety of host platforms tailored to specific mission criteria. It leverages expertise in underwater acoustics, artificial intelligence, remotely piloted systems, and maritime autonomy. Led by CEO Mike Connor, ThayerMahan operates from its headquarters in Groton, CT with additional locations in Lexington and New Bedford, MA, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, and Arlington, VA. The company intends to use the new funding to expand operations and broaden its business reach. Current financial activity includes a recent follow-on capital infusion to support growth plans. ThayerMahan delivers maritime domain data solutions by deploying and operating a portfolio of unmanned autonomous sea-based systems. Its proprietary AI technology stack collects and curates datasets, analyzing and accelerating the speed of data comprehension for customers. The company serves sectors including maritime security, defense and intelligence, subsea infrastructure, offshore energy, living marine resources, and acoustic sciences. ThayerMahan is led by CEO Mike Connor and was founded in 2016, operating from Groton, CT. The company intends to use new capital to expand operations and broaden its business reach. Recently it completed a $30M Series C financing to support those plans. ThayerMahan provides turn‑key autonomous marine solutions that integrate state‑of‑the‑art acoustic and electronic sensors on a variety of host platforms to meet specific mission criteria. The company offers deployment, operations, data gathering and analysis services and a 'Search as a Service' product for government, industry, and academia. ThayerMahan leverages advances in robotic miniaturization, global digital communications, and artificial intelligence to reduce costs and augment traditional maritime operations. The firm emphasizes domain expertise, with roughly half its team drawn from former U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard personnel and leadership from the submarine and undersea surveillance communities. ThayerMahan is headquartered in Groton, CT, with satellite presences in Boston and Washington, DC. The company intends to use new capital to accelerate growth through acquisitions and to expand operations and R&D.

Led · Series B · Mar 2022

Firefly Aerospace builds small- and medium-class rockets (Alpha), a lunar lander, and the Elytra spacecraft. The company plans a lunar lander launch later this year and the Elytra's first mission next year. It intends to move Alpha to full-rate production and accelerate development of a Medium Launch Vehicle co-developed with Northrop Grumman. Operationally, Firefly has launched Alpha five times since September 2021, with three missions successfully placing payloads into orbit and a record rapid-response launch (27 hours from green light). The company has agreements with L3Harris for up to 20 launches from 2027 and with Lockheed Martin for 15 committed launches through 2029. A recent large financing round positions the company to meet its near-term mission manifest and production goals. Firefly Aerospace develops end-to-end space transportation systems, including the Alpha small launch vehicle, the Elytra on-orbit vehicle, and the Blue Ghost lunar lander product line. The company has secured multiple U.S. government and commercial contracts, including three NASA CLPS task orders and a NASA Alpha mission. Firefly has also concluded a launch agreement with Lockheed Martin, signed a multi-launch agreement with L3Harris, and has Elytra contracted for a National Reconnaissance Office mission scheduled to fly on Alpha next year. The Medium Launch Vehicle, co-developed with Northrop Grumman, has major milestones planned before year-end. Firefly has reported recent responsive launch success, including the VICTUS NOX mission referenced by company leadership. Financially, the company has been raising capital throughout 2023–2024 to support production and mission execution. Firefly Aerospace, founded in 2014, develops the Alpha orbital rocket and other space systems including a proposed lunar lander called Blue Ghost. It has won multiple satellite launch orders and a $93 million NASA contract for Blue Ghost. The company raised $75 million in a Series A in May 2021 and later received a $75 million direct Series B preferred equity investment from AE Industrial Partners as part of a deal that transferred Noosphere's stake. Noosphere reportedly sold about $100 million of its holdings to Series A participants earlier, and its remaining equity would have been valued at around $500 million before the AEI transaction. Firefly's maiden Alpha launch failed to reach orbit and its ability to reach orbit will affect timing of any public listing. AE Industrial Partners' recent purchase gives it over 50% of Firefly's equity and the right to appoint a majority of the board, after Noosphere sold its holdings amid CFIUS concerns. The FAA has yet to issue a launch license for the company's second Alpha flight, though the FCC approved a communications authorization transfer tied to that launch. Firefly develops a family of launch vehicles and in-space vehicles and services that aim to provide affordable, convenient, and reliable access from LEO to the surface of the Moon. Its product line includes the Alpha small launch vehicle, the Space Utility Vehicle, and the Blue Ghost lunar lander, and it touts LEO solutions up to ten metric tons of payload at the lowest cost per kg in the small-lift class. Firefly is completing preparations for the inaugural launch of Alpha from Vandenberg Space Force Base and has announced multiple commercial and civil Alpha launch contracts with customers including NASA and General Atomics. The company was awarded a $93.3 million NASA CLPS contract to deliver 10 science payloads to the lunar surface in 2023 using Blue Ghost. Firefly completed an oversubscribed $75 million Series A that valued the company at greater than $1 billion and executed approximately $100 million in secondary transactions of Noosphere Ventures’ holdings. The company intends to raise an additional $300 million later in 2021 to fund its growth plans through 2025. Firefly Aerospace, led by founder and CEO Tom Markusic, designs and builds small-to-medium launch vehicles and spacecraft from its Austin/Cedar Park facilities. The company emphasizes rapid iteration—designing, building, testing and rebuilding quickly—to lower costs and increase access to space. Its long-term vision includes reusable, runway-launched rockets operating with airline-like cadence. Firefly reports it and its predecessor have spent about $110 million to date and that it has raised roughly $70 million in the past two years. The company has not yet completed a Series A round of venture capital funding. Firefly won a NASA lunar payload services contract in November 2018, conducted a successful engine test on May 17, 2018, and plans a new launch facility at Cape Canaveral, Florida, while aiming to fly its first rocket in the next six months.

Participated · Series A · Nov 2021

Sierra Space delivers satellites, spacecraft, reusable spaceplanes, hypersonic systems, propulsion solutions, and high-rate solar arrays to support critical national security and civil space missions. The company draws on more than 30 years of space-flight heritage and has participated in over 500 missions. Recent contract wins include a $450 million award to build more than four satellites for a National Security customer and an SDA Tranche 2 Tracking Layer contract worth up to $740 million to produce 18 missile-warning, tracking, and fire-control satellites. In 2025 the firm completed Critical Design Reviews for two major national security satellite programs and finished manufacturing and assembly of its Dream Chaser spaceplane, which is slated for a demonstration flight in late 2026. Sierra Space recently opened a power-station facility that manufactures high-rate solar arrays for satellite missions. The company has raised more than $2 billion in capital since 2021 and now carries an $8 billion post-money valuation following its latest round. These resources position Sierra Space to expand production capacity, secure additional defense contracts, and scale its mission-critical offerings.