2014-01-12 15:27:12.971477+01 by meuon 4 comments
In-Q-Tel is the US CIA and "Intelligence Community") acting as Venture Capitalists. It has a public portfolio and I am sure a private one... You might want to be aware who the VC in your vendors are, and their vendors.. and...
comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):
#Comment Re: made: 2014-01-13 08:26:29.446937+01 by: ebwolf
Suprised you didn't know about In-Q-Tel. I know several people with startups and small tech firms funded by them. In the GeoWeb, they are about the only ones investing.
#Comment Re: made: 2014-01-13 18:13:44.401037+01 by: meuon [edit history]
"they are the only ones investing" - As I consider "GeoWeb" a lot of real stuff working with real data, that's interesting. They tout that they leverage other VC, or seed it. Does their involvement scare off other VC?
#Comment Re: made: 2014-01-14 08:09:23.441446+01 by: ebwolf
Not sure what the problem is with Geo and VCs. I think part of the problem is the 800lb Gorilla (Esri). They are so entrenched that a company has to be in serious startup land (like Waze and Foursquare) to attract private VC. Otherwise, In-Q-Tel invests because the CIA needs a second source besides Esri.
FortiusOne/GeoIQ/Geocommons was funded by In-Q-Tel but ultimately picked up by Esri in a firesale as government contracts dried up due to budgetary issues.
About one week later, OpenGeo latched onto the In-Q-Tel nipple. They are a clear example of the CIA trying to maintain a viable second source to Esri.
#Comment Re: made: 2014-01-14 14:58:07.205927+01 by: meuon
That makes a lot of sense, thanks for the insight from a former insider.