First In
Venture capitalWashington · Seed–Series A · 15 people tracked
Investment thesis
First In backs entrepreneurs building security technology as the world grows more complex and dangerous. Its thesis centers on escalating geopolitical tensions with near-peer adversaries, fractured global supply chains, and the need for the US and its allies to rebuild a modern arsenal. The firm believes great power competition with the Chinese Communist Party will define the future, requiring governments and commercial enterprises to adopt security technology faster. It anticipates increasing asymmetric attack vectors from state and non-state actors, and views advanced industrialization and autonomy as necessities as brittle supply chains become critical vulnerabilities. Focus areas span advanced manufacturing, AI and data, communications and networking, cybersecurity, space systems, strategic systems, and unmanned systems.
Source: firm website, verified Aug 7, 2026.
Team · 15 people
from the firm's website & public directories
What they invest in
from 30 of 35 portfolio companiesAI & Machine Learning ×15Cybersecurity ×14Enterprise Software ×14Defense Tech ×11Data & Infrastructure ×6Deep Tech ×5SaaS ×5Developer Tools ×4
HQs:United States×19
Investments · 35 tracked
founders shown can be your intro pathBy year:2026 · 32023 · 12021 · 12020 · 12015 · 17 dated
360 Privacy provides digital executive protection, removing personal information (PII) from data broker websites and continuously monitoring the deep and dark web to identify compromised credentials.
CybersecuritySaaS
Co-investorsFTV Capital
N-able delivers unified cybersecurity and data protection solutions including endpoint management (N-central), AI-powered threat detection and response (Adlumin), and disaster recovery services (Cove).
AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingCybersecurityEnterprise SoftwareAlexandria, US
Robert S. Jonhston(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsBankTech VenturesSyn Ventures Seed Management LlcLeawood Venture Capital LlcSYN Ventures
Anduril Industries is a defense technology company that builds autonomous systems and AI-powered software for the United States and allied militaries.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechFintechGaming
Palmer Luckey(Founder)Brian Schimpf(CEO)inTrae Stephens(Founder)in
Co-investors137 Ventures1Flourish Capital8VCAltra VentureAndreessen HorowitzAnorak Ventures+81 more
Antithesis provides deterministic simulation testing software that automatically finds and reproduces bugs in mission-critical software systems.
AI & Machine LearningDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareSaaS
Will Wilson(CEO & Co-Founder)inDave Scherer(Co-Founder)
Co-investorsAmplify PartnersTamarack GlobalBoulder VenturesFrontline VenturesSpark CapitalTeamworthy Ventures+1 more
AnySignal builds a software-defined, full-stack RF platform providing communications, radar, and sensing across space, land, air, and sea domains.
Defense TechHardwareSpace TechEl Segundo, US
John Malsbury(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Ricardo Andres Medina(Executive Officer, Director)Jeffrey Osborne(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)
BoardArthur Karell(Director)inDavid Byrd(Director)in
Co-investorsAcequia Capital (AceCap)Balerion Space VenturesBeyond CapitalBlueYard CapitalUpfront Ventures
Base Operations provides a security intelligence platform that turns street-level threat data into actionable insights for corporate security teams.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareSaaS
Co-investorsGlasswing VenturesGood Growth CapitalGrotech VenturesInner Loop CapitalMagma PartnersMindset Venture+2 more
Castelion develops advanced strike systems and defense hardware with a focus on rapid iteration and scalable manufacturing to reduce costs and development timelines for U.S. defense applications.
Advanced ManufacturingDefense TechHardwareTorrance, US
Bryon Hargis(Co-Founder & CEO)Sean Pitt(Co-Founder & COO)Andrew Kreitz(Co-Founder & CFO)
BoardAlex Poulin(Director)in
Co-investors7percent VenturesAndreessen HorowitzAngel Collective Opportunity FundAvenir Growth CapitalBlueYard CapitalCantos Ventures+9 more
Falls Church, US
Kaustubh Phaltankar(Executive Officer, Director)Timothy Sullivan(Director)
BoardThomas Noonan(Director)Thomas McDonough(Director)
Co-investorsTechnology Operators
Cloneable builds a platform that combines in-field data collection with agentic AI automation to capture and scale expert knowledge for industrial teams managing critical infrastructure such as power grids, telecom networks, and construction projects.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechEnterprise SoftwareRoboticsRaleigh, US
Lia Reich(Co-Founder & CEO)Patrick Lohman(Executive Officer)Tyler Collins(Executive Officer, Director)Thomas Haun(Director)
BoardEliza Cushman(Director)in
Co-investorsBull City Venture PartnersCongruent VenturesOverline
Costanoa is a venture capital firm that backs early-stage founders solving large, difficult problems, providing long-term partnership and operational support.
Greg Sands(Founder)inAmy Cheethamin
Co-investorsCostanoa VenturesFoundryUnion Grove Venture PartnersCherry VenturesDVx VenturesGeodesic Capital+4 more
Dapple Security provides data security and privacy features for businesses, built on encryption and data governance technologies.
CybersecurityData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareFintechCentennial, US
Gadalia Montoya Weinberg O'Brian(Founder/CEO)Gadalia Montoya Weinberg O'Bryan(Founder and CEO)Keith Bucher(Co-Founder and CTO)Gadalia O'Bryan(Executive Officer, Director)William Ackerly(Director)
Co-investorsAccess Venture PartnersEx/AnteTechstarsAccess VenturesAccess Ventures
Graphika builds a network intelligence platform that maps and analyzes relationships across online communities to help organizations understand digital environments and identify emerging risks and opportunities.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureNew York, US
John Kelly(Founder)inRene Boettcher(President)John Graves(Director)Christopher Tucker(Director)Montgomery Kersten(Director)John W Kelly(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsBuckhill CapitalSJF VenturesLavrock Ventures
Grist Mill Exchange is a data marketplace that connects government and federal teams with vetted commercial data providers through standardized terms of use, letting users search, compare, and acquire datasets and deliver them into existing applications.
B2B MarketplacesDefense TechGovTech
Co-investorsVeteran Ventures Capital
Hybron manufactures composites using proprietary technology, positioning itself as a U.S.-based alternative to overseas production.
Advanced ManufacturingNew Materials
Brennan Lieu(Founder)in
Co-investorsLorimer VenturesZEAVeteran Ventures Capital
Immuta provides data access and governance solutions that enable safe, instant provisioning of data at scale for humans and AI systems.
Data & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareAnnapolis, US
Steven Touw(Director)Matthew Carroll(Executive Officer, Director)inMichael Schiller(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardSapan Shah(Director)
Co-investorsConversion CapitalDrive CapitalGreycroftIntel CapitalMarch Capital PartnersNightDragon+5 more
Mammoth Cyber offers an enterprise AI browser that combines zero-trust access controls, data-loss prevention, and GenAI usage policies in a single workspace.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityEnterprise Software
Co-investorsCyber Mentor FundTSVC
Morning Consult runs continuous daily consumer surveys across 100+ countries and provides a decision intelligence platform with AI agents that turn this data into market research and consumer insights.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureMarketing Tech
Co-investorsAdvance Venture PartnersArdent VentureSavano Capital PartnersSusquehanna Growth Equity
Moth+Flame develops virtual reality immersive training content and a learning platform used by the U.S. military and corporate clients to train service members, corporate leaders, and government personnel.
AI & Machine LearningDefense TechEdTechEnterprise SoftwareFuture of WorkNew York, US
Co-investorsAIN VenturesMontage CapitalSpacecadet VenturesTech Square Ventures
CybersecurityDeveloper ToolsEnterprise Software
Co-investorsAtlassian VenturesAviso VenturesBallistic VenturesClearSkySixThirty Ventures
Portal Space Systems develops advanced spacecraft, including its flagship Supernova vehicle, designed for high delta-v maneuverability and multi-orbit operations in cislunar space.
Deep TechHardwareSpace TechWashington, US
Jeffery Thornburg(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Ian Vorbach(Director)inPrashaanth Ravindran(Director)in
BoardRayfe Gaspar-Asaoka(Director)in
Co-investorsAlleyCorpBooz Allen VenturesFUSEGeodesic CapitalIceNineTFX Capital+4 more
Precog provides automated data integration (ELT) using multi-dimensional algebra and AI-powered schema detection to transform complex object data from APIs, SaaS applications, and IoT platforms into business-ready data.
AI & Machine LearningData & InfrastructureEnterprise SoftwareFintechBoulder, US
Jeff Carr(Founder)in
Co-investorsCircadian VenturesFirstMile VenturesGreater Colorado Venture FundRange VCStreamlined VenturesTechstars+2 more
Pryzm is an AI-powered operating system designed for federal business development and government contracting.
AI & Machine LearningDefense TechGovTechSaaS
David Istrati(Founder)in
Co-investorsAndreessen HorowitzXYZ Venture CapitalAmplify.LA
Rilian builds Caspian, an agentic security orchestration platform that unifies a fragmented security stack through a single interface and captures practitioner expertise, alongside DawnTreader, a deployment engine for air-gapped, sovereign, and compliance-restricted environments.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityDefense Tech
Co-investorsTamarack Global
RunSafe Security develops cybersecurity software that hardens embedded systems and commercial/defense software against exploitation by disrupting the determinism attackers need to build reliable exploits.
CybersecurityDefense TechDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareMclean, US
Joseph M. Saunders(Founder and CEO)Doug Britton(EVP)Shane Fry(Chief Technology Officer)Bill Stulb(Director)
BoardJoe Addiego(Director)inPatricia Muoio(Director)in
Co-investorsAlsop Louie PartnersSINEWAVE VENTURESBMW i VenturesCritical VenturesInner Loop CapitalIronGate Capital Advisors+2 more
SCATR provides "Zero Trust Transit," a security overlay that protects data in motion by segmenting, camouflaging, and distributing traffic across multiple paths to hide metadata and traffic patterns from adversaries.
SCATR provides "Zero Trust Transit," a security overlay that protects data in motion by segmenting, camouflaging, and distributing traffic across multiple paths to defeat traffic analysis, metadata fingerprinting, and quantum "harvest now, decrypt later" attacks.
CybersecurityDeep TechDefense TechRichmond Heights, US
Brian O'Keefe(Executive Officer)Matthew Carpenter(Executive Officer, Director)Daniel Lindberg(Executive Officer)Justin Freeh(Executive Officer)
BoardJames W. MacIntyre IV(Director)Fredrick DiSanto(Director)
Shift5 provides an onboard operational technology (OT) platform that captures and analyzes data from vehicles, fleets, and weapons systems to deliver security monitoring, threat detection, and predictive maintenance insights.
CybersecurityDefense TechIoT
Co-investorsBooz Allen VenturesCenter15 CapitalSavano Capital PartnersTeamworthy VenturesSQUADRA VENTURES
Boston, US
Giuseppe Stuto(Executive Officer, Director)Frank Iudiciani(Executive Officer, Director)
Co-investorsFulcrum VentureBloomberg BetaCostanoa VenturesFortitude VenturesGeodesic CapitalPalumni VC+2 more
Smack builds domain-specific AI models for military decision-making.
AI & Machine LearningDeep TechDefense Tech
Andy Markoff(Founder & CEO)inClint Alanis(COO & Co-Founder)inDan Gould(Head of Strategy & Co-Founder)
Co-investorsFelicis VenturesFulcrum VentureGeodesic CapitalScribble VenturesCostanoa Ventures
Co-investorsTofino Capital
Tidal Cyber develops tools and services that help enterprises adopt MITRE ATT&CK framework for threat-informed defense.
CybersecurityEnterprise Software
Rick Gordonin
Co-investorsAccess Venture PartnersBright Pixel CapitalDreamit VenturesGlasswing VenturesStoneMill VenturesTFX Capital+6 more
Twosense uses passive biometrics and machine learning for continuous user authentication in enterprise environments, eliminating the need for passwords and physical tokens.
AI & Machine LearningCybersecurityEnterprise SoftwareHealthtechBrooklyn, US
Dawud Gordon(CEO)John Tanios(Executive Officer, Director)
BoardChristopher Wake(Director)
Co-investorsBoro CapitalEntrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA)Glasswing VenturesOpen Field CapitalAtypical VenturesPreface Ventures
ZeroTier is a networking platform that provides secure, endpoint-enforced connectivity without appliances or traditional VPN configurations, serving organizations of all sizes across sectors such as robotics, space, and retail.
Cloud ComputingCybersecurityDeveloper ToolsEnterprise SoftwareIrvine, US
ADAM IERYMENKO(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Adam Ierymenko(Founder & CTO)inAndrew Gault(CEO)inRobert Stevenson(CCO)in
Co-investorsAnorak VenturesBonfire Ventures7percent VenturesBattery VenturesDcode Capital
Exits · 1
IPOs and acquisitions across the tracked portfolioPhylumacq. by Veracode
Portfolio news
latest coverage across their companies
Castelion · techcrunch.com · Aug 20, 2026
Smack · citybiz.co · Aug 19, 2026
Costanoa Ventures · therecursive.com · Aug 17, 2026
Anduril · bloomberg.com · Aug 10, 2026
Immuta · immuta.com · Jul 16, 2026
Tidal · esgtoday.com · May 29, 2026
Hybron · latimes.com · May 21, 2026
Cloneable · reworked.co · Apr 27, 2026
Frequently asked questions
- What stage does First In invest at?
- First In invests at the Seed, Series A stages.
- What is First In's typical check size?
- First In typically writes checks of $500K – $2M.
- What sectors does First In focus on?
- First In focuses on Advanced Manufacturing, AI & Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Data & Infrastructure, Deep Tech, Defense Tech, Hardware, Robotics, Space Tech.
- Where is First In located?
- First In is headquartered in Washington, US.
- Does First In lead rounds?
- Yes, First In leads investment rounds.
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