In a somewhat unusual move, lobbying firms and venture capital funders are teaming up to invest in a high-margin area of innovation endemic to the heart of military infrastructure.
JA Green & Company A defense-focused lobbying group whose tech clients include SpaceX and RTX Corporation has partnered with a VC firm. Anne’s Partners We will establish the Anzu-Green Critical Technologies Fund.
The proposed $100 million fund will back companies developing technologies related to national defense and security, including those specializing in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and aerospace, according to Jeff Green, president and founder of JA Green & Co. and managing partner of the new fund.
Anzu Partners focuses on investing in “breakthrough industrial technologies,” said David Seldin, managing partner of the firm and fund. Anzu typically backs companies that are heavily funded and often have proven backing from the U.S. government.
The same criteria will apply to the fund, which the group announced in early June. Green said the fund will typically invest in companies in the Series B stage, with investments of around $3 million to $6 million. The partners do not intend to lead funding rounds.
“We’re talking about a fund that blends the technology and company-building skills that Anzu has with the exceptional advocacy and business development skills that Jeff and his team have,” Seldin told Technical.ly.
Green said the team plans to start investing in the fourth quarter of this year, and the fund will target companies nationwide, without a geographic focus.
VC investments in DC and other trends
The announcement comes as venture capital firms are turning new eyes to the DC region, particularly Silicon Valley. Andreessen Horowitz It has been Focus on office space Close White House.
Considering that it is nearby Department of Defense (DoD)Green said creating a defense-related fund makes practical sense.
“If you want to work on national security, our office is right on Capitol Hill. It’s a 15-minute drive from the Pentagon,” Green told Technical.ly. “This is the epicenter of national security. We think this is an ideal place to work on national security.”
Green said this isn’t the first time lobbying and venture capital have worked together, but it’s probably the first time they’ve focused on defense. The collaboration benefits from roughly $1 billion in strategic assets held by the venture firms across their funds.
The fund is in line with a trend of the Defense Department investing in early-stage technology companies, said Green, who worked in the defense sector early in his career and served on the staff of the House Armed Services Committee before starting his lobbying firm in 2007. Typically, the government turns to experienced contractors for innovative technologies, but that has changed in recent years, Green said.
For example, the Department of Defense’s Accelerated Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies pilot program is funding the project. Moving from development to productionThis indicates a change in behavior, Green said.
“We’re leveraging the emerging technologies and early-stage companies that are hot right now to solve some of the national security problems that, frankly, prime contractors can’t solve alone,” Green said. [the government] We need early stage companies to help solve some of these big challenges facing the country.”
Company: Andreessen Horowitz / Department of Defense
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