Spear AI is a Washington, D.C. defense-technology company founded by U.S. Navy veterans that turns raw underwater acoustic data into decision advantage for maritime and undersea operations. It pairs affordable, deployable maritime sensors with AI/ML software - anchored by its Horizon platform for managing and labeling acoustic data - so naval leaders can tell a benign whale from a silent-running submarine faster and with more confidence. The company also provides engineering and technical services to the U.S. Department of Defense and Navy.
Smack Technologies is a frontier AI lab for national security, founded in 2024 by two Marine Special Operations veterans, Andy Markoff and Clint Alanis. The company builds domain-specific AI models trained through deep reinforcement learning inside proprietary synthetic warfare environments. Its goal is what it calls 'Decision Dominance' - compressing the Orient and Decide phases of the military OODA loop from months to minutes. Two product suites carry the work: Omega, a command-level stack that turns commander intent into executable plans, and Alpha, an edge stack with lightweight models and proprietary hardware for tactical platforms operating in degraded, low-bandwidth conditions. Smack raised $32M in combined seed and Series A funding led by Geodesic Capital and Costanoa Ventures, and has secured seven-figure contracts with the Joint Fires Network and the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab.
Ready (ready.net) is a San Francisco software company that builds the platform state broadband offices use to run the federal BEAD program - from application intake and challenge processes to milestone tracking, reimbursements, and NTIA-ready reporting. Founded by Jase Wilson and Mike Faloon, the company turns a paperwork avalanche into structured, auditable workflows so $42B in public money actually reaches the unserved homes it was meant for.