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Tag: machine learning

Fairfax AI firm acquired by Texas-based tech company

Fairfax-based ARInspect, a firm specializing in artificial intelligence products for public sector field operations, has been acquired by Texas software company Tyler Technologies, the companies announced Tuesday.

Tyler declined to disclose the price and terms of the deal.

Tyler will add ARInspect’s AI-powered platform to its portfolio and use the Fairfax company’s technology across its verticals with a focus on all regulated entities, including environmental protection, disaster recovery and human services, according to a news release. ARInspect’s platform allows public sector employees to work independently to manage all activities in the field. The platform analyzes historical data, completed inspections, violations, integrated census data and more, and helps agencies identify sites, assets and facilities that may be at risk.

“Over the last few years, we have seen a great demand for public sector edge technology with the power of AI and automation,” Vivek Mehta, founder and CEO of ARInspect, said in a statement. “We couldn’t be more excited to combine our expertise with Tyler’s to provide a powerful and user-friendly field operations platform. Our similar values and commitment make this the ideal partnership for all ARInspect and Tyler clients.”

The 40 employees of ARInspect will join Tyler’s platform solutions division, and the management team is expected to be a key part of the division, a Tyler spokesperson told Virginia Business. Tyler also has offices in Herndon, with 178 employees; Arlington County, where 48 employees work; and Richmond, with 30 workers. ARInspect’s employees will move to Tyler’s Herndon office.

“Tyler understands the challenges that government agencies have in providing resources to field workers, including access to smart capture tools, real-time data, and the decision-making capabilities that can impact effectiveness,” Brian Combs, president of Tyler’s platform solutions division, said in a statement. “ARInspect’s platform and expertise in AI and machine learning combined with Tyler’s public sector experience and robust portfolio will help deliver on our promise to create smarter, safer and stronger communities for our clients.”

Reston-based Octo to be acquired by IBM

Reston-based Octo is being acquired by IBM and its 1,500 employees will become part of IBM Consulting’s U.S. public and federal market arm.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed in a news release Thursday. IBM is acquiring the company from Arlington Capital Partners and the deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

Octo was founded in 2006 by CEO Mehul Sanghani. The federal contractor has been recognized as one of the fastest growing in the U.S. and has been named a top place to work. In May, it opened oLabs, a $10 million, 14,000-square-foot research and development lab dedicated to federal customers, including the military, where Octo has worked on artificial intelligence and other projects.

Octo is IBM’s eighth acquisition this year, and the company has acquired more than 25 businesses since Arvind Krishna became CEO in 2020. The acquisition will expand IBM’s federal and public market consulting arm to 4,200 employees and Octo will complement IBM’s IT modernization and digital transformation strengths and enhance its support of federal agencies in those areas. Octo’s oLabs will also help to prototype emerging tech solutions.

“Governments require agility and resiliency to meet the evolving needs of citizens directly and in real time,” John Granger, IBM Consulting’s senior vice president, said in a statement. “The combination of Octo’s highly qualified and respected team with IBM’s consulting expertise, technical capabilities and strategic partner ecosystem will enable federal clients to transform faster and better serve citizens.”

Sanghani and his wife, Hema, graduated from Virginia Tech and in 2020 donated $10 million to the university, part of which went to endow the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics at the forthcoming Innovation Campus in Alexandria.

“Octo was founded on the belief that digital transformation could be delivered at scale to modernize the federal government’s approach to today’s most pressing challenges – from public health care to national security, to defense and intelligence,” Sanghani said in a statement. “Today, we are excited to join forces with IBM to continue to deliver these digital transformation capabilities with greater reach and scale.”

 

Booz Allen Hamilton launches $100M VC fund

Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. has formed a $100 million corporate venture capital arm, the McLean-based Fortune 500 global management consultancy announced Wednesday.

Named Booz Allen Ventures LLC, the arm will invest in early-stage companies and technologies across four categories: defense, artificial intelligence/machine learning, cybersecurity and deep technology.

“We are proud and excited to continue our work with the best startups to support our U.S. government clients,” Booz Allen Chief Technology Officer Susan Penfield said in a statement. “The ability to navigate bigger, faster technology waves and identify the right emerging technologies for their mission needs, as well as our own, is vital to enabling growth and mission speed.”

Booz Allen Ventures will help the company expand its tech scouting program, sourcing and recommending tech investments focused on mission-specific applications, according to a news release.

Booz Allen employs approximately 29,500 workers globally, with about 10,000 employed in Virginia. For the 12 months ended March 31, Booz Allen reported revenue of $8.4 billion.

Reston-based LookingGlass acquires Next5

Reston-based cyber intelligence firm LookingGlass Cyber Solutions Inc. will acquire Washington, D.C.-based technology consulting firm Next5, the company announced May 11.

As part of the acquisition, Next5 CEO and founder Bryan Ware was named CEO of LookingGlass. He is replacing Gilman Louie as CEO, who has moved to the role of executive chairman, LookingGlass spokesperson Mary Yang said.

Financial terms were not publicly announced. Next5’s 15 Leesburg-based employees will be integrated with LookingGlass’s Reston-based workforce of 95 employees, Yang said.

Before founding Next5, Ware was appointed the assistant director of cybersecurity at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a position he held from January 2020 through November 2020, according to his LinkedIn account. He also served as an assistant secretary at DHS for cyber, infrastructure and resilience, and was a senior adviser to the department’s secretary.

“Under Bryan’s leadership, CISA’s operational partnerships with the private sector, national security community and international partners were significantly enhanced,” Louie said in a statement. “This cross-sector collaboration and engagement is necessary as our government and critical infrastructure face growing cyber threats and increasingly sophisticated threat actors.”

The acquisition complements LookingGlass’ suite of cyber solutions for federal and state governments, critical infrastructure organizations and private and public sector entities. In a statement, Ware said he will “deepen” the company’s investments, including applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to cybersecurity cases.

“Now more than ever, organizations need to understand their risk in the context of emerging technologies, greater supply chain dependencies, and an evolving threat landscape, especially as we face heightened geopolitical competition,” Ware said in a statement. “This is why I’m excited to join LookingGlass. Next5’s expert network and business intelligence services combined with LookingGlass’s innovative technologies only strengthens our ability to support our customers’ critical cyber missions.”

Fluence to acquire renewable energy SaaS company

Arlington-based energy storage and digital application company Fluence Energy Inc. announced Monday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Nispera AG.

Nispera is a Zurich-based artificial intelligence and machine learning-enabled software-as-a-service company that targets the renewable energy sector. It helps clients monitor, analyze, forecast and improve renewable energy assets’ performance and value.

“I am very excited to welcome Nispera, a customer-centric organization that at its core is aligned with our values and mission to transform the way we power the world,” Fluence President and CEO Manuel Perez Dubuc said in a statement. “With this acquisition, we are primed to expand our portfolio of digital products and services for customers around the world. Furthermore, it represents a powerful cross-selling opportunity to offer energy storage products to owners of existing renewable energy assets and portfolios.”

The transaction includes an all-cash buyout provision of approximately $30 million for existing private investors in Nispera. In addition to the cash payment, Fluence will also issue restricted stock to Nispera’s management team that vests over three years for retention purposes.

Nispera will maintain its leadership team and its Zurich headquarters.

The company’s flagship offering is an AI-driven utility-scale asset performance management platform that currently manages 8 gigawatts of assets across 450 wind and solar projects. It also offers applications that Fluence will combine with its own to create a “manage app.” Nispera has a predictive maintenance application, an operations and maintenance application and a portfolio management application, along with an application that provides power generation forecasting services for energy assets.

The company’s software currently collects and analyzes data from wind, solar and hydro assets in addition to external sources in more than 25 countries.

Fluence, which was founded in 2018 as a joint venture of Arlington-based Fortune 500 energy company AES and industrial manufacturer Siemens, announced late last year that the Qatar Investment Authority will invest $125 million in the company, with AES and Siemens retaining approximately 44% shares each of the company. The company launched its initial public offering in October 2021.

Amazon, Va. Tech partner on machine learning initiative

Virginia Tech announced Thursday morning that it is partnering with Amazon.com Inc. on an artificial intelligence and machine learning research initiative that will have a presence at both Tech’s Blacksburg campus and its emerging Innovation Campus in Alexandria.

Dubbed the Amazon-Virginia Tech Initiative for Efficient and Robust Machine Learning, the program will include doctoral student fellowships, research projects and community outreach, as well as a shared advisory board. It will be housed at Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering in Blacksburg and at the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics, which will be in the first building at the Innovation Campus, a $302 million center currently under construction.

“This partnership affirms the value of our connection to Amazon as we scale up project-based learning and research programs in artificial intelligence and machine learning,” Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said in a statement. “Building Virginia Tech’s strength and expertise in these fields will support critical technological advancements and our commitment to fuel workforce development in the commonwealth.”

Virginia Tech played a major role in luring the e-tail giant to Arlington, where it is building its $2.5 billion-plus HQ2 East Coast headquarters, where 25,000 people are expected to be employed by 2030. Tech has started construction of its $1 billion Innovation Campus in Alexandria, just a short distance from HQ2, and the university has pledged to produce about 16,000 more computer science and engineering bachelor’s and master’s degree graduates over the next 20 years.

“We are delighted to collaborate with Virginia Tech in launching this new initiative, which brings together the top talent in our two organizations in a joint mission to achieve groundbreaking advances in robust machine learning,” said Prem Natarajan, Amazon’s vice president of Alexa AI – natural understanding. “The proximity of this initiative to Amazon’s HQ2 will catalyze research efforts that leverage the depth of talent in the Northern Virginia area to address some of the most pressing challenges in AI.”

The Sanghani Center is supported by a $10 million gift from Reston-based Octo Consulting Group CEO Mehul Sanghani and his wife, Hema, who are both Tech graduates. According to the university, graduate and doctoral students, as well as faculty members, will have the opportunity to submit machine learning sponsored research projects for Amazon. Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence that focuses on algorithms that can improve performance through experience and the use of data.

Also part of the program will be a group of fellowships awarded to Virginia Tech doctoral students in the engineering school. Each Amazon Fellow will be invited to interview for a paid Amazon internship during the summer after winning the fellowship. Tech also will co-host two annual workshops, as well as training and recruiting events for students, and the partners will establish a collaborative advisory board to provide input for the program’s direction and review research proposals.

“Virginia Tech is growing research and graduate programs in critical disciplines to meet the needs of industry and fuel the tech sector economy across the commonwealth and beyond,” said Julia M. Ross, Tech’s Paul and Dorothea Torgersen Dean of Engineering. “This new partnership with Amazon will fuel ongoing and future investment in research and education in AI-centric fields, and will provide important support for graduate students in these areas. We’re also excited to have engineering faculty and students working alongside industry leaders on these important technological advances and discoveries.”

Calif. company buys Progeny Systems division for $30M

Simi Valley, California-based unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) company AeroVironment announced Wednesday it has acquired Manassas-based Progeny Systems Corp.’s Intelligent Systems Group (ISG) for $30 million in an all-cash transaction.

ISG develops artificial intelligence-enabled computer vision, machine learning and perceptive autonomy technologies for the Department of Defense and intelligence community. The company reported more than $10 million in 2020 revenues and employs 40 people. All employees will continue in their current roles under the acquisition.

ISG will become part of AeroVironment’s MacCready Works Advanced Solutions team, which focuses on research and development.

“Acquiring ISG will enhance the intelligence of our growing, multidomain robotic systems portfolio, increase customer-funded research and development revenue and deepen our relationships with strategically important customers,” AeroVironment President and CEO Wahid Nawabi said in a statement.

The ISG facility in Manassas will operate as AeroVironment’s Artificial Intelligence Innovation Center, where the company will work on new AI capabilities.

 

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NYC investment firm acquires controlling interest in Reston tech startup

New York City-based Tracker Capital Management LLC announced Monday that one of its affiliates has acquired a controlling interest in Reston-based tech startup Presage Security.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Presage works to apply machine learning and advanced mathematical processing to video imagery analysis for health care, security and authenticity verification.

“Tracker Capital’s investment and partnership will significantly enhance our ability to deliver innovative solutions to our customer base,” Presage founder and CEO Mark Oliver said in a statement. “Tracker Capital brings extensive expertise in our target market segments and together, we will be able to successfully scale our enterprise to meet the growing needs of our customers.”

Tracker Capital invests in emerging tech companies at various stages in several markets.

“With its innovative technology and widespread applicability, we believe there are significant opportunities ahead for the company,” Tracker Capital Managing Director David Robertson said in a statement. “We look forward to working with Mark and the team to help Presage achieve its vision as the market leader in video analysis.”

Lowenstein and Sandler LLP served as legal adviser to Tracker Capital for the transaction.

 

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ASGN subsidiary buys Fla.-based tech firm

Henrico County-based Fortune 1000 professional services company ASGN Inc. announced Tuesday it has acquired Tampa, Florida-based information technology firm Integrated Solutions Management Inc.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1991, ISM specializes in internet of things (IoT) technology, IT service and operations management. It will become part of ECS, a Fairfax-based ASGN subsidiary tech and engineering company. ISM’s operations will fall under ECS’s Enterprise Business Solutions Group, which is focused on digital services for federal and civilian commercial customers.

“We are very pleased to welcome the ISM team to ASGN,” ASGN President and CEO Ted Hanson said in a statement. “Their talented professionals complement our rapidly growing ECS segment. ISM’s proprietary IP provides a competitive edge to ServiceNow customer engagements. I am confident that this acquisition will position us to successfully deliver on some of the most complex digital transformations today.”

ASGN offers cloud, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, application and IT modernization and engineering services. The company employs more than 3,000 people and moved to Glen Allen from California this year.

“After many years as a standalone company, ISM is excited to drive growth under ECS,” ISM President and Chief Revenue Officer Marty Burke said in a statement. “Both companies share an unwavering dedication to service excellence, a drive to be first movers in new technologies and a commitment to employee education and training. These values will serve us well as we work together on behalf of our clients.”

 

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Fairfax tech company names AI director

Fairfax-based technology and engineering company ECS (a subsidiary of Henrico County-based ASGN Inc.) announced Tuesday it has hired Aaron Burciaga as senior director of artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics.

Burciaga was most recently the global operations director for analytics and AI with HCL Technologies. In his new role, he will work with ECS’s national security and intelligence division on AI and machine learning (ML) development and will develop an analytics center of excellence within the company.

“Aaron brings two decades worth of experience leading AI, ML and analytics teams,” ECS president George Wilson said in a statement. “His insights and expertise will be integral to ECS as we continue to define, develop, and maintain world-class analytics and AI capabilities.”

Burciaga is also an Iraq War veteran and served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC). Through 2019 he served as the lead data technologist at USMC headquarters. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Naval Academy and his master’s degree in operations research from the Naval Postgraduate School.

ASGN recently moved its headquarters from California to Henrico County and is the parent company of Glen Allen-based recruiting firm Apex Systems LLC. Employing more than 3,000 people, ASGN offers cloud, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, application and IT modernization and engineering services.

 

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