In-Q-Tel
Transcript
In-Q-Tel of Arlington, Virginia, United States is a not-for-profit venture capital firm that invests in high-tech companies for the sole purpose of keeping the Central Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence agencies, equipped with the latest in information technology in support of United States intelligence capability.
History Originally named Peleus and known as In-Q-It, In-Q-Tel was launched in 1999 under the direction of Gilman Louie. In-Q-Tel’s mission is to identify and invest in companies developing cutting-edge technologies that serve United States national security interests.
Originally associated with the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology, In-Q-Tel now engages with entrepreneurs, growth companies, researchers, and venture capitalists to deliver technologies that provide superior capabilities for the CIA, DIA, NGA, and the wider intelligence community.
In-Q-Tel concentrates on three broad commercial technology areas: software, infrastructure and materials sciences. Former CIA director George Tenet says, We [the CIA] decided to use our limited dollars to leverage technology developed elsewhere. In 1999 we chartered ...
In-Q-Tel. ... While we pay the bills, In-Q-Tel is independent of CIA. CIA identifies pressing problems, and In-Q-Tel provides the technology to
address them. The In-Q-Tel alliance has put the Agency back at the leading edge of technology ... This ... collaboration ...
enabled CIA to take advantage of the technology that Las Vegas uses to identify corrupt card players and apply it to link analysis for terrorists [cf. the parallel data-mining effort by the SOCOM-DIA operation Able Danger ], and to adapt the technology that online
booksellers use and convert it to scour millions of pages of documents looking for unexpected results. In-Q-Tel sold 5,636 shares of Google, worth over $2.2 million, on November 15, 2005. The stocks were a result of
Google’s acquisition of Keyhole, the CIA funded satellite mapping software now known as Google Earth. As of August 2006, In-Q-Tel had reviewed more than 5,800 business plans, invested some $150 million in more than 90 companies, and delivered more than 130 technology solutions to the intelligence
community. In 2005 it was said to be funded with about $37 million a year from the CIA. Former board members include Norman Augustine, William Perry, Anita K.
Jones and Gilman Louie. Governance In-Q-Tel is a Virginia-registered corporation, legally independent of the CIA or any other government agency. The corporation is bound by its Charter agreement and annual contract with the
CIA, which set out the relationship between the two organizations. In-Q-Tel's mission to support the Intelligence Community's technical needs is promoted by the In-Q-Tel Interface Center, an office within the CIA that facilitates communication and relationships between In-Q-Tel and government intelligence organizations.
While In-Q-Tel is a nonprofit corporation, it differs from IARPA and other models in that its employees can profit from its investments. According to public records, In-Q-Tel's current principals include: Christopher A.
R. Darby, President/CEO Bruce Adams, Secretary Michael M. Crow, Chairman Paul G.
Kaminski, Director Jeong H. Kim, Director Investments Many companies listed on In-Q-Tel's investment website page are secret. In-Q-Tel functions partially in public;
however, what products it has and how they are used is strictly secret. According to the Washington Post, "virtually any U.S. entrepreneur, inventor or research scientist working on ways to analyze data has probably received a phone call from In-Q-Tel or at least been Googled by its staff of
technology-watchers." = Software= Socrata - Open Data Solutions for Government Innovation = Material science= Biotech Biomatrica - biolab tech anhydrobiosis storage SpectraFluidics - detection of trace airborne chemicals
Arcxis Biotechnologies - sample processing and pathogen detection febit group - DNA Boreal Genomics - DNA fingerprints T2 Biosystems - medical diagnostic devices, miniaturized magnetic resonance OpGen -microbial genome analysis Infobionics - biotech cellular database Microchip Biotechnologies -analysis instrumentation for biodefense
Cambrios Technologies - biomaterials for solid-state electronic devices Seahawk Biosystems - diagnosis biosensor products Sionex -chemical and biological sensors Polychromix -material analysis and chemical sensing IatroQuest - detect biological and chemical agents IntegenX - NanoBioProcessor & molecular
diagnostics Seventh Sense Biosystems - health monitoring and medical diagnostics Sonitus Medical - transmits sound via the teeth MedShape - orthopedic devices from shape memory materials Electricity Electro Energy - nickel-metal hydride batteries for satellites & aircraft
Qynergy Corporation - Long-lived batteries, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems Infinite Power Solutions -micro-batteries Skybuilt Power - solar, wind, fuel cells, batteries, fossil fuels, telecommunications -Mobile Power Station(MPS) 3.5 kW to 150 kW Semprius - solar energy
AdaptivEnergy - miniature piezo generators Power Assure - managing power consumption MiserWare - reduces energy Electronics Nanosys - nanotech components Alfalight - high-power lasers & torches IDELIX Software - pliable display technology
Perceptive Pixel - multi-touch displays WiSpry - radio components Nextreme Thermal Solutions - circuit-board thermoelectric components Digital Solid State Propulsion - electronic controls for solid rocket motors Infinite Z - virtual-holographic monitors Video
3VR Security - DVR archiving MotionDSP - digital video Pixim - video cameras COPAN - data storage iMove - immersive video Pelican Imaging - better camera phones LensVector -optical autofocus InView Technology Corporation - cameras and hyper-spectral imagers Rhevision - tunable camera lens
Signal Innovations Group - signal, image, and video analytics Elemental Technologies -video processing KZO Innovations - streaming video software VSee - video conferencing = Infrastructure= Hardware Genia Photonics - fiber-optics products Advanced Photonix, Inc.
-fiber optics SitScape -Command & Control room hardware SpotterRF - micro surveillance radar QD Vision -monitors, displays and lighting GATR Technologies -inflatable satellite dishes CoreStreet - door access control systems
Etherstack - radios Paratek microwave - smart scanning antennas D-Wave Systems - quantum computers Sensor networks ThingMagic - RFID Dust Networks - low-power wireless mesh networking systems Ember Corporation - ZigBee- wireless semiconductor
Gainspan - low power Wi-Fi Tendril Networks - software for wireless sensor and control networks TenXsys -telemetry systems for remote monitoring, NASA StreamBase -real-time data in government/military, RFID/sensor networks Thetus - software for remote sensing instruments
Soflinx defender -a Wireless Sensor Network for fences PlateScan -automatic license plate recognition sensor network Data centers Bay Microsystems - packet processing and data traffic Cleversafe - data storage clouds and massive digital archives Cloudera - data storage and analysis
Asankya - Hypermesh data streams CopperEye - data retention Systems Research and Development - real-time data warehousing Network Appliance - Decru Security testing RedSeal Systems - security testing Network Chemistry - RFprotect, WiFi security Veracode - application security testing
Other related personnel Numerous noteworthy business and intelligence community professionals have been involved with In-Q-Tel at various times, including the following: Dan Geer Chief Information Security Officer Michael D. Griffin – former President;
later Administrator of NASA. Norman R. Augustine Gilman Louie Amit Yoran John Seely Brown Stephen Friedman
Paul McMahon William Perry Alex J. Mandl Craig Goss Rob Painter – former Director for Technology Assessment; left to become Senior Federal Sales Manager at Google.
Christopher K. Tucker, first chief strategic officer References External links Official website Fact sheet from the company's website White Paper on the In-Q-Tel concept from
the CIA's website In-Q-Tel from Federal Computer Week In-Q-Tel from govexec.com The Report of the Independent Panel on the CIA In-Q-Tel Venture from Business Executives for National Security Press releases