Mika Romanoff’s Post

Well said Daniel! #DefenseTech is on the rise for several reasons, as I’ve covered for months now. We’ve psssd a tipping point that is aligning interests across private industry and #nationalsecurity (specifically) and the public good (writ large). If you’re not following Building our Defense, then you’re missing out on the fast paced developments in technology as it relates to aerospace & defense. Let’s build a strong America. Let’s build to protect an international order that values freedom, democracy, and human rights! #defensetechnology #defenseinnovation #venturecapital #vc #dod #natsec #nationalsecurity #defense #dod #buildfordefense #buildingourdefense #aerospaceanddefense #greatpowercompetition #gpc

This is a new kind of founder dilemma My brother-in-law, Itamar Friedman, one of the most talented CEOs (CodiumAI) and dedicated fathers I know, was called for reserve duty today. As Israeli startup founders, we've had a rough couple of years. We've had to deal with multiple government changes, COVID-19, missiles, bank closures, economic recession, and now war. Leaders like Itamar are torn between fighting for the safety and security of their family and country while strengthening the economic resilience of their company. I have no doubt that the grit and perseverance needed to prevail over these adversities are exactly what help us build the next generation of $1B startups. https://lnkd.in/dXPKHZ2C

New Post: J2 Ventures, focused on military healthcare, grabs $150M for its second fund - https://lnkd.in/ga6cWjeN - J2 Ventures, a firm led mostly by the U.S. military veterans, announced on Thursday that it has raised a $150 million second fund. The Boston-based firm invests in startups whose products are purchased by civilians and the U.S. Department of Defense.   While many emerging VCs are struggling to raise second funds, J2’s latest vehicle is © 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only. - #news #business #world -------------------------------------------------- Download: #Google #Font #Tester - https://lnkd.in/gKAZYbVN

Defense as an internet-level investor opportunity? If you understand the world we've left, and the one we're entering, it makes perfect sense. - The U.S. is meaningfully behind in technology development in key areas relative to near-peer threats (e.g. hypersonic missiles) - The accepted world order (i.e. you don't invade sovereign nations) that prevailed more or less since the end of WWII is unraveling - Tensions with China and supply chain vulnerabilities revealed by Covid have put American manufacturing back on the menu - Widespread technology obsolescence is a known threat, which is one reason the Pentagon's RDT&E budget is growing as a real number and a percentage of the overall DoD budget There's palpable urgency to innovate in defense, and the technologies developed there will benefit other massive and emerging markets. It's time to build, as they say.

"US-based companies in (defense) collected nearly $100 billion in VC funding from 2021 to now, a figure that's about 40% higher than what was invested in the seven prior years combined...VC's appetite for investing in defense tech isn't expected to slow down." Is this good news? Let's stop and think: 1: Think about your own experience as a user of the Web over the last 25 years. Think about the effect that increased VC involvement has had on the systems and products that you love(d). Think about how much the Web has evolved from a single open community into a balkanized collection of social media communities that do not interoperate. Now consider that DoD's foremost technical aspiration is to do the opposite: to move from an enterprise with countless systems and networks and telecom standards, to one that allows warfighters, sensors, and weapons systems in every service—Army, Navy, Air Force—at every echelon—platoon, squadron, unit, company, brigade, wing—to be able to communicate with one another seamlessly, whether they are in the air, on the ground, or at sea. (Google “JADC2”) Do you think that flooding the defense marketplace with tech that is backed by VC funding and a business model that capitalizes on your data is going to give DoD the result that it wants? As Jed Sundwall said to me recently, the government should start being mindful of the business models behind the technology it has to procure. 2: Think about WHY defense companies are bringing in more venture capital. Is it because lots of non-conventional companies are entering the marketplace? According to the National Defense Industrial Association - (NDIA), the opposite is happening: the number of companies in defense is actually going DOWN. https://lnkd.in/eKkkbBbX So why the huge spike in VC? Maybe it's because surviving the “valley of death” is so damn hard that the only shot you have is to take on debt from someone whose interests are unaligned with the mission.

"In this country, we have the unique ability to take big swings at things that truly matter to us through entrepreneurship. If we fail, it's almost a badge of honor. We can dust ourselves off and try again, something that's simply not possible in most other parts of the world. And then you have the venture capital industry, which is fueling these transformative ideas and the founders behind them. America provides the unparalleled opportunity to create change through entrepreneurship and build businesses that truly make a difference."   We spoke with Mike Sherbakov, a General Partner of The Veteran Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in high-growth technology startups led by exceptional founders from the military community. The Veteran Fund’s core investment thesis focuses on veteran leadership, dual-use technologies, and advancing America through strategic investments in next-gen technology startups that align with national priorities and have clear, enduring applications for defense and security.   https://lnkd.in/ejH6QaDb   #DeepTech #NationalSecurity #VentureCapital #StartUps #Veteran #Defense #Military #Invest #Technology | Firestorm, Instant Teams, Lonestar Data Holdings Inc., United States Military, Stitch3D, Cyberspatial, Pixly, Proteus Space, Inc., Haiku, Inc., Vatn Systems

700 venture firms applied to speak on the MainStage at the Raise Global Summit in SF. We are incredibly honored to announce that we were one of only twenty firms selected to speak and that we were asked to take point. I can't wait to tell the story of Marque Ventures but more importantly the story of why it is so important (and lucrative) to be investing in US and allied national security today. All around us are the signs of a fracturing world order. That world order, Pax Americana, is the framework the United States and its allies set up in the aftermath of WW2 and it ushered in an era of accelerated human progress unlike any other period in history. However, from the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the horrific Iran supported terrorist attacks in Israel, our future is at risk. Analysts tell us China is most likely targeting action over Taiwan between now and 2027. We are not prepared. The best time to act was a decade ago but the second best time is today. Moreover, while I hate to be an "ambulance chaser," I would be remiss if I did not point out that the US and allied/partnered defense market is $2 trillion, a full order of magnitude larger than the global enterprise SAAS market. If you are looking for a great ESG opportunity, look no further than investing in allied security. Protect the future of liberal democracy, protect your children's futures, and make $$$ doing it. See y'all at Raise!

In a Q&A with Authority Magazine, our CEO Neil Keegan discusses his journey from active duty in the #Navy to #VC, and the lessons learned along the way about friendship, motivation, and philosophy. Check it out. #defensetech #venturecapital #21stcenturyoffset

The U.S. is years behind its biggest rivals in cutting-edge hypersonic missile technology. Silicon Valley is betting it can help the military catch up. Venture capitalists, better known for pumping money into business-software services and social-media apps, are now deploying hundreds of millions of dollars into developing the technology for hypersonic weapons the U.S. military wants but has struggled to figure out despite decades of trying. China and Russia already have them ready for use on the battlefield. The U.S. doesn’t. Silicon Valley investors and startups want to help fill the gap. Silicon Valley’s entry into the hypersonic race is one of the most ambitious examples of its recent dive into the defense industry. Venture capital in the past couple of decades has largely avoided funding expensive hardware development and steered clear of most applications for the U.S. military, favoring technology that requires less upfront money and produces returns sooner. Seth Winterroth, a partner at Eclipse Ventures, a Silicon Valley defense-tech venture firm that backed hypersonic startup Ursa Major, said the enormity of the technical challenge of hypersonic systems requires collaboration between startups, large defense firms and the government. “We’re not building widgets here. This is complex engineering,” he said. “We are behind our adversaries here, and we’ve got to work together to catch up.” Hypersonic aircraft and weapons fly at five times the speed of sound or faster, which is at least 3,800 miles an hour. The aircraft must be able to withstand temperatures of thousands of degrees. The major powers of the world are in a race to develop the most sophisticated missiles that can be launched from long distances, evade air defenses, maneuver and strike targets quickly—before the enemy can make preparations or even know they are coming. Defense Department spending on hypersonics makes it an attractive market for venture capitalists; it is also among the riskiest, given the improbability of success. Venture capitalists have invested more than $500 million into U.S. startups working on the systems in the past two years, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of venture-capital data from PitchBook. Early-stage funds that have previously backed wildly different businesses—cryptocurrency, videogames, retail or healthcare—are now betting on hypersonics. Startups, including Hermeus and Venus Aerospace, which are designing aircraft to fly autonomously at hypersonic speeds, are pitching the benefits of using private capital and the latest engineering to lower costs for the Defense Department. The venture-backed companies are building everything from services for launches and flight tests to jets to engines for hypersonic systems—although many are years away from a completed product.

Any books about the Israeli Intelligence set-up which has churned out so many tech start-ups. ------- "Unit 8200 is the army’s main information-gathering unit, where soldiers aged 18-21 develop and use tools to gather information, which they pass on to senior officials. It’s Israel’s version of the US National Security Agency." "Less known is Unit 81, the Intelligence Corp’s Technological Unit that supplies cutting-edge technologies to Israeli combat soldiers." https://lnkd.in/gkuQtFbU