The Central Intelligence Agency has its own investment capital arm, and it's been pumping money into some of Silicon Valley's most innovative companies for years.
In-Q-Tel (named after "Q" in the James Bond films) invests in companies that can deliver useful technology to the intelligence community within 36 months. But since it's structured as an independent, non-profit organization, it's rather unique: It's a VC firm that doesn't really need to make money back for outside investors, and it can tap into the deep pockets of the intelligence "black budget."
Its involvement in a startup is also a stamp-of-approval of sorts, often bringing in more money from other VC firms, to the tune of $11-$15 for every dollar the CIA kicks in. In-Q-Tel typically does not disclose the amount it invests, though a Washington Post story from 2005 says the funding is often relatively small $500,000 to $2 million investments.
Here are some of the cutting edge companies the CIA has found useful.
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Cylance is using artificial intelligence to analyze and kill malware well before it becomes a problem.
Cylance built a product that can analyze and determine whether a file you are about to open is malware, and then stop it from executing — all in less than a second.
Instead of using lists of known bad software, or "signatures" of malware, Cylance's product uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to determine what's bad and what's not.
Especially when phishing email scams are still the number one method hackers use, Cylance's software is a gamechanger in the cybersecurity space. Which is probably why it's currently valued over $1 billion.
The product, CylancePROTECT, is used exclusively in the enterprise for large corporations, banks, and government clients. Cylance told Business Insider it would soon be launching a product for regular users as well.
In-Q-Tel invested in the company in 2016.
Orbital Insight analyzes the millions of satellite images being beamed back to Earth to answer all kinds of interesting questions.
Let's say you are a big retailer like Wal Mart or CVS, and you want to get an understanding of how many people are shopping at your stores. One method for figuring this out is to analyze the number of cars in the parking lot — which is one thing Orbital Insights can do.
The company can figure out things such as how certain stores are performing, how many people visit a store, or determine how busy it is at certain times of the day, and so on.
The satellite analysis can answer other questions as well: What intersections are the busiest at rush hour? Or perhaps, how is China's economy doing?
Orbital Insights has attracted plenty of interest beyond the CIA, which chipped in $5 million in 2016. Around that same time, Google Ventures led an investment round of $15 million.
Cyphy built a tethered drone that can monitor an area for days at a time.
Cyphy (pronounced Sci Fi) has a tethered drone that can keep a watchful eye from up to 10,000 feet above its base station, or it can help with long distance communications.
The company has a patented microfilament tether to keep the drone connected to a ground control station, where it gets all its power and communication from. So unlike the average drone, the ground-powered "persistent aerial reconnaissance and communications" can be launched and stay in the area for a much longer time.
It's outfitted with a high-definition camera that can shoot in night vision, which makes it ideal for troops in the field who need to keep an eye on their base perimeter.
The company also has a smaller "pocket flyer" drone that flies through doors and windows, and which fits inside a soldier's cargo pocket.
In-Q-Tel invested in Cyphy in 2015.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider