STARTVIRGINIA: HEARD AROUND VIRGINIA

The second CvilleBioHub Device & Tech Expo will take place Jan. 30 at Northfork Research Park in Charlottesville. Registration is open, and participating companies include Luna Labs, Inbio, Cutagenesis, BrightSpec and others. Tickets are available at cvillebiohub.org. (News release)

Joining a number of other Northern Virginia startups in the growing drone space, D-Fend Solutions, a cybersecurity and counter-drone technology company with offices in McLean and Israel, announced in December 2024 that it has raised $31 million in a new investment round. Financing was led by Israel Growth Partners, with participation from Vertex Ventures and Vertex Growth. IGP General Partner Uri Erde joins D-Fend’s board with this investment. (News release)

McLean-based Integral Federal, a national security-focused government IT contractor, has acquired Reston IT services company Pragmatics, the latest in a recent string of M&A deals in the space. Terms of the deal, announced in November 2024, were not disclosed. Integral serves the FBI and U.S. Department of State, while Pragmatics’ customers include the Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security and Transportation departments. (DC Inno)

Loudoun Economic Development announced the winners of the 2024 Loudoun Innovation Challenge in December 2024 at an awards gala at Belmont Country Club. Emtel Energy, Measured Risk, SkyRFID, noHack and Vasc Risk are this year’s winners, and noHack was the overwhelming winner of the People’s Choice Award, for which the startup won $10,000. (News release)

Richmond fintech Paymerang is staffing up its sales and operations teams and continuing its integration with Corpay after being acquired in May 2024. While it’s now part of a global payments company that posted $3.8 billion in 2023 revenue and $1.3 billion in net income, Paymerang plans to stay rooted in Richmond, according to CEO Nasser Chandra. (Richmond Inno)

McLean-based fintech Range has just raised $28 million to help it bring artificial intelligence to the forefront of the wealth management industry. San Francisco venture capital firm Cathay Innovation led the Series B for 3-year-old Range. Gradient Ventures — Google’s AI-focused seed-stage fund — and other unnamed investors also took part, according to the late November 2024 announcement. (Washington Business Journal)

Charlottesville cybersecurity company RIIG closed a $3 million seed round to accelerate the formal launch of its AI-powered technologies in 2025 and expand its headcount. The funding was led by Felton Group, a family office of Jaffray Woodriff, the CEO of Charlottesville hedge fund Quantitative Investment Management and a prominent donor to the University of Virginia. RIIG’s founder and CEO, Denver Riggleman, represented Virginia’s 5th District in Congress. (Richmond Inno)

Dulles-based software company Unanet acquired Washington, D.C.’s GovPro AI, Unanet announced in late November 2024. The company, which provides project-based enterprise resource planning and customer management software for government contractors and the private sector, did not disclose financial details of the transaction. GovPro AI provides AI-powered proposal writing platforms for government contractors. (VirginiaBusiness.com)

Zennify, a California-based technology consultancy specializing in financial services, announced in November 2024 that it has acquired Richmond’s Terazo, a digital engineering firm specializing in AI and application development. Financial terms were not disclosed. Zennify said the acquisition will combine its depth across platforms such as Salesforce, nCino and Data Bricks. Tercera, an investor in both companies, will continue to support the combined business. (News release)