In-Q-Tel

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In-Q-Tel
Type Privately held not-for-profit corporation
Genre Technology research, Venture capital
Founded September 29, 1999 (1999-09-29)
Founder(s) Norm Augustine[1]
Headquarters Arlington, Virginia[2]
Key people Christopher Darby, CEO[3]
Services Investment in information technology supporting U.S. intelligence capability
Website http://www.iqt.org/

In-Q-Tel of Arlington, Virginia, United States is a not-for-profit venture capital firm that invests in high-tech companies for the sole purpose of keeping the Central Intelligence Agency, and other intelligence agencies, equipped with the latest in information technology in support of United States intelligence capability.[4]

Contents

History [edit]

Originally named Peleus and known as In-Q-It, In-Q-Tel was launched in 1999 under the direction of Gilman Louie.[4] In-Q-Tel’s mission is to identify and invest in companies developing cutting-edge technologies that serve United States national security interests. Originally associated with the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology, In-Q-Tel now engages with entrepreneurs, growth companies, researchers, and venture capitalists to deliver technologies that provide superior capabilities for the CIA, DIA, NGA, and the wider intelligence community. In-Q-Tel concentrates on three broad commercial technology areas: software, infrastructure and materials sciences.

Former CIA director George Tenet says,

We [the CIA] decided to use our limited dollars to leverage technology developed elsewhere. In 1999 we chartered ... In-Q-Tel. ... While we pay the bills, In-Q-Tel is independent of CIA. CIA identifies pressing problems, and In-Q-Tel provides the technology to address them. The In-Q-Tel alliance has put the Agency back at the leading edge of technology ... This ... collaboration ... enabled CIA to take advantage of the technology that Las Vegas uses to identify corrupt card players and apply it to link analysis for terrorists [cf. the parallel data-mining effort by the SOCOM-DIA operation Able Danger ], and to adapt the technology that online booksellers use and convert it to scour millions of pages of documents looking for unexpected results.[5]

In-Q-Tel sold 5,636 shares of Google, worth over $2.2 million, on Nov 15, 2005.[6] The stocks were a result of Google’s acquisition of Keyhole, the CIA funded satellite mapping software now known as Google Earth.

As of August 2006,[dated info] In-Q-Tel had reviewed more than 5,800 business plans, invested some $150 million in more than 90 companies, and delivered more than 130 technology solutions to the intelligence community.[4][7] In 2005 it was said to be funded with about $37 million a year from the CIA.[8][dated info]

Former board members include Norman Augustine, William Perry, Anita K. Jones and Gilman Louie.[citation needed]

Governance [edit]

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In-Q-Tel is a Virginia-registered corporation, legally independent of the CIA or any other government agency. The corporation is bound by its Charter agreement and annual contract with the CIA, which set out the relationship between the two organizations. In-Q-Tel's mission to support the Intelligence Community's technical needs is promoted by the In-Q-Tel Interface Center (QIC), an office within the CIA that facilitates communication and relationships between In-Q-Tel and government intelligence organizations. While In-Q-Tel is a nonprofit corporation, it differs from IARPA and other models in that its employees can profit from its investments. According to public records, In-Q-Tel's current[when?] principals include:

Investments [edit]

Many companies listed on In-Q-Tel's investment website page[9] are secret. In-Q-Tel functions partially in public, however what products it has and how they are used is strictly secret.[8] According to the Washington Post, "virtually any U.S. entrepreneur, inventor or research scientist working on ways to analyze data has probably received a phone call from In-Q-Tel or at least been Googled by its staff of technology-watchers."[8]

Software [edit]

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Material science [edit]

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Biotech
Electricity
Electronics
Video

Infrastructure [edit]

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Hardware
Sensor networks
  • ThingMagic - RFID
  • Dust Networks - low-power wireless mesh networking systems
  • Ember Corporation - ZigBee- wireless semiconductor
  • Gainspan - low power Wi-Fi
  • Tendril Networks - software for wireless sensor and control networks
  • TenXsys -telemetry systems for remote monitoring, NASA
  • StreamBase -real-time data in government/military, RFID/sensor networks
  • Thetus - software for remote sensing instruments
  • Soflinx defender -a Wireless Sensor Network for fences
  • PlateScan -automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) sensor network
Data centers
Security testing

Other related personnel [edit]

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Numerous noteworthy business and intelligence community professionals have been involved with In-Q-Tel at various times, including the following:[citation needed]

References [edit]

  1. ^ A new partnership between the CIA and the private sector
  2. ^ Careers at In-Q-Tel (address)
  3. ^ List of the Board of Trustees
  4. ^ a b c "In-Q-Tel, Inc. Company Information". Hoover's. Retrieved March 26, 2013. 
  5. ^ George Tenet (1997), At The Center Of The Storm: My Years at the CIA, Harper Press, p. 26 
  6. ^ "CIA sells Google shares". November 15, 2005. 
  7. ^ In-Q-Tel website: Investing in our National Security. Obtained August 2006.
  8. ^ a b c n-Q-Tel, CIA's Venture Arm, Invests in Secrets
  9. ^ In-Q-Tel website. In-Q-Tel — Investments.
  10. ^ Dan Geer leaves Verdasys for In-Q-Tel, by Ryan Naraine, ZDNet, May 28, 2008. Accessed 2008-07-09.

External links [edit]

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