The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Oct 2025

Seattle-based Membrion, led by CEO and founder Greg Newbloom, provides adaptive water-infrastructure solutions built around its proprietary ceramic desalination membranes. The technology is designed to process the toughest industrial waste streams, allowing manufacturers to reclaim usable water and valuable minerals while meeting evolving environmental regulations and climate-driven pressures. Membrion positions its membranes as a reliability tool for future-proofing production facilities against regulatory shifts and supply-chain risks. With the fresh capital, the company plans to scale operations and accelerate product development. Since inception, Membrion has raised a cumulative $43 million. No revenue or customer counts were disclosed in the article, but the company emphasizes industrial adoption and continued R&D as key growth drivers.

Participated · Series D · Nov 2024

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 C · Sep 2022

Fortanix sells software that encrypts databases, manages application secrets, and provides confidential computing to isolate sensitive data in encrypted CPU enclaves during processing. Its confidential computing technology is built on Intel’s SGX platform and is aimed at letting regulated industries use private data while preserving anonymity. The company counts more than 125 customers — including Adidas, Google, PayPal, GE Healthcare, the U.S. Department of Justice and the CDC — and works with partners such as Elastx, Alibaba Cloud, Equinix and IBM Cloud. Fortanix plans to use new capital to expand sales and marketing and to open new offices in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. CEO Ambuj Kumar declined to disclose revenue figures but said the company is growing and currently employs about 225 people with plans to increase headcount by roughly 50% over the next year. The company emphasizes protecting data “in use” in addition to data at rest and in motion and competes with legacy data security vendors as well as other confidential computing startups. Fortanix develops Runtime Encryption® technology and a Self-Defending Key Management Service (SDKMS) that protect data, encryption keys, databases, containers, and machine‑learning algorithms while in use. The platform runs Linux applications in enclaves built on Intel® SGX and is used to power IBM Cloud Data Shield and Equinix’s SmartKey HSM-as-a-service; the company secures F100 customers worldwide. Fortanix says its technology helps address GDPR privacy requirements, enterprise blockchain security, and protection of AI/ML inputs by keeping data confidential even when systems are compromised. The company reports significant revenue and growth internationally and plans to use new funding to expand all facets of the business and accelerate its international expansion. Fortanix is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., and the team cites roughly 18 months of product availability since launch. Total funding to date is $31 million. Fortanix offers a Runtime Encryption™ solution that protects applications and data from external and internal threats and all types of backdoors across on-premise and cloud deployments. The company leverages Intel® SGX, TXT, and other security technologies to enable general-purpose computation on encrypted data without exposing sensitive data to untrusted operating systems, root users, cloud providers, or malicious insiders. Customers use Fortanix's technology to protect sensitive applications such as trading algorithms, software key managers, build servers, content delivery applications, and remote TLS terminations. Fortanix has announced the beta availability of its Self-Defending Key Management Service™ (SDKMS), a cloud service secured with Runtime Encryption™ technology. The company is based in Menlo Park, CA and was founded by Ambuj Kumar and Anand Kashyap. In June 2017 Fortanix raised $8m in a Series A financing.

Participated · Series D · May 2022

Federated Wireless develops shared-spectrum CBRS technology and operates a Spectrum Access System (SAS) that enables private 5G, enterprise wireless, and edge solutions. The company positions private wireless as a transformative enterprise technology and supports use cases across IoT, AR/VR, telemedicine, drones, and industrial automation. Federated says it is concentrating recent funding on speeding time to market for new product capabilities and on ecosystem development with device and edge partners. It reports more than 350 customers and over 85,000 connected devices across the United States and territories. The partner ecosystem includes more than 40 device manufacturers and edge partners. Founded in 2012 and based in Arlington, Va., the company is focused on commercializing shared spectrum for enterprises and service providers. Federated Wireless is a nationwide leader in shared spectrum and CBRS technology, providing a platform that enables commercial and private wireless deployments. Its platform aims to combine the attributes of traditional wireless and Wi‑Fi, offering lower fixed costs, higher quality, and greater efficiency and scale. The company reports more than 350 customers and over 85,000 connected devices across the U.S. and territories, serving sectors including defense, government, manufacturing, telecommunications, utilities, real estate, and education. Noteworthy customers include Charter, Comcast, Verizon, the US Department of Defense, and Carnegie Mellon University. Federated plans to use the Series D proceeds to scale its platform and support further investments in capabilities and partnerships. The company also announced several senior leadership and board appointments to support growth, including Dr. Shaygan Kheradpir on the Board, Chris Swan as Chief Commercial Officer, and Loren Buck as Chief Financial Officer. Federated Wireless is a private-network pioneer that delivers shared-spectrum and private wireless solutions, including a Spectrum Controller and Connectivity-as-a-Service (CaaS). Its CaaS offering lets enterprises order connectivity from AWS or Azure with Federated Wireless delivering and managing the network, providing cloud scalability, granular policy control, and visibility into performance and usage. The company aims to deliver 4G/5G performance at enterprise Wi-Fi costs and builds on experience managing 150 MHz of CBRS shared spectrum. Federated Wireless plans to expand into the 6 GHz band to create a path to 1,000 MHz of shared spectrum, enabling Wi-Fi 6 and 5G data transfers up to 10 Gbps. Its partner ecosystem includes more than 40 device manufacturers and edge partners, and customers span telecommunications, energy, hospitality, education, retail, office space, municipal and residential verticals with use cases from network densification to Industrial IoT. The company was founded in 2012 and is based in Arlington, Va. Federated Wireless develops shared-spectrum CBRS infrastructure and services, including an operational nationwide Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) network and a Spectrum Controller (Spectrum Access System). The company targets wireless carriers, cable companies, utilities and enterprises seeking to augment 5G and private LTE and to enable use cases such as network densification, mobile offload and industrial IoT. Federated reports a customer base of more than 25 companies across telecommunications, energy, hospitality, education, retail, office space, municipal and residential verticals, and a partner ecosystem of over 40 device manufacturers and edge partners. The company says it has completed major deployment milestones and is ready to engage commercial services. The recent financing is intended to accelerate availability and adoption of shared-spectrum CBRS services and support continued industry leadership and delivery. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Arlington, Va., Federated emphasizes collaboration with partners and customers to scale CBRS deployment. Federated Wireless sells the Spectrum Controller, an end-to-end cloud service that enables access, management and optimization of the FCC-approved Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) 3.5GHz band. The product includes a Spectrum Access System (SAS), a nationwide Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) network, spectrum management tools, and an API-centric open partner ecosystem. The Controller is designed to make LTE-ready spectrum immediately accessible to mobile operators, cable operators, enterprises and other providers, improving spectrum efficiency and lowering costs for wireless services. The company has brought the Spectrum Controller to market after more than five years of development and nine months of industry testing, and it already holds conditional FCC certification with full certification anticipated in January 2018. Federated plans to continue working with the FCC, Department of Defense, the Wireless Innovation Forum and the CBRS Alliance to expand use cases and the technology ecosystem. Financially, the company closed a $42M Series B round backed by strategic wireless-industry investors, enabling it to commercialize and scale deployments. The company is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.