Money Moves is a recurring series where we chart the raises, grants, contracts, mergers and other funding news of tech companies across our regions. Have a tip? Email us at dc@technical.ly.

Agentic AI is emerging as a favorite in the fight against phishing attacks, which have increased in sophistication thanks to hackers’ own use of artificial intelligence — and DMV companies are leading the way.

Sublime Security, which focuses on email security, announced a $150 million Series C, while Arlington cybersecurity company ThreatConnect was acquired by NY juggernaut Dataminr for $290 million. HyperSpectral also raised $7 million to continue building its detection technology that flags pathogens and substances. 

Keep scrolling to get the details on those moves and more financial news. 

$150 million to build security-minded AI agents 

Sublime Security is building technology to automate defending systems from threats, specifically related to email attacks. It touts reaction speed as one of the benefits of its AI agents, per a press release.  

The DC-based company will use the cash infusion to add more agents to its platform and expand to serve global customers.

“We believe that Sublime’s use of agentic AI to counter adversaries is redefining how organizations defend themselves — with more context, precision, speed, and transparency than has been possible before,” said Russell Moore, partner at lead investor Georgian. 

Sublime’s tech has been garnering lots of interest; Index Ventures and Citi are among the new investors, joining a roster that includes Avenir and 10A.. 

The startup already boasts big-name enterprise customers, like Spotify and defense tech firm Anduril. 

Risk intelligence firm acquires Arlington company

Dataminr, a New York company last valued at $4.1 billion, acquired Arlington, VA’s ThreatConnect to build an agentic AI feature that detects threats and provides personalized insights to customers about possible attacks.

The $290 million deal will give Dataminr access to ThreatConnect’s more than 250 global government and private sector customers, including Nike and Wells Fargo. Beyond cybersecurity tools, this acquisition will expand the tech to offer internal data insights.   

“The future of Dataminr’s real-time intelligence will be more relevant and actionable than ever before,” said Dataminr founder and CEO Ted Bailey, “enabling our clients to not just understand what is happening, but what it means to them, and how they should respond.”

This move quickly follows ThreatConnect completing a $300 financing and being named on the Fortune Future 50. 

HyperSpectral reports over-subscribed Series A-2 

Alexandria-headquartered HyperSpectral emerged from stealth in 2024 and has since completed several rounds of funding, including this most recent $7 million A-2. 

HyperSpectral will use the money to expand partnerships, boost development of its technology and prepare for another round of capital in 2026. 

It specializes in pairing AI with spectroscopy (which breaks down light to discover what something is made of) to detect bacteriological pathogens in minutes for investigating food and defense materials. 

“Spectral Intelligence can change the way industries organize to leverage AI to help make decisions and control processes by providing data instantly, with differentiated advantages including reliability and scale,” said investment platform Avalanche Thinking’s CEO Chuck Mattera. “HyperSpectral has the vision, team and technology to lead this transformation,

Other DC raises and awards 

  • Amazon purchased a data center site for $700 million in Prince William County, the Washington Business Journal reported. 
  • Arlington defense acquisition software company Govini reached unicorn status after landing a $150 from Bain Capital. 
  • Defense and transportation tech firm Shift5 in Arlington raised a $75 million Series C for its go-to-market and R&D for new products. 
  • Reston cybersecurity firm Silent Push raised $10 million in Series B funding to expand globally and build its customer base. 
  • Gallaudet University in DC received a $4.5 million award from the National Science Foundation to launch a graduate research program focused on AI. 
  • Sev1Tech, an IT company in Woodbridge, landed a $49 million contract with the Navy to provide cybersecurity and operations tools. 

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