DC Money Moves: Iron Mountain lands $150M contract to modernize Justice Department records management

Iron Mountain Government Solutions, a Herndon, Virginia-based subsidiary of Boston information management giant Iron Mountain Incorporated, recently announced its receipt of a blanket purchase agreement from the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Records Management Policy (ORMP).

According to an announcement, the award lasts 10 years, boasts a $150 million ceiling and will be executed with multiple vendors. The overall award aims to support the ORMP’s maintenance, digitization, disposal and classification of all electronic records in keeping with the National Archives and Records Administration’s guidelines.

Iron Mountain Government Solutions is the government contracting-focused wing of its parent company, which specializes in a variety of information management services. These offerings range from data centers across the world to records security to what the announcement calls “Records Management as a Service” — the same solution the public sector subsidiary is providing the DOJ.

“With Iron Mountain’s deep understanding of DOJ-specific physical and electronic records management needs and requirements, coupled with our dedicated subject matter experts and proven experience, we are the ideal partner for DOJ and its Components on their [records and information management] modernization journey for the next decade and beyond,” Iron Mountain Government Solutions General Manager Melissa Carson said in the announcement.

Hushmesh selected for NATO DIANA group, award

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (NATO DIANA) named Falls Church, Virginia-headquartered cybersecurity company Hushmesh a winner in its namesake challenge.

According to NATO DIANA’s LinkedIn announcement, Hushmesh is one of 44 companies selected for its pilot accelerator cohort. The post said that the agency picked the group from over 1,300 applications. The selectees were split into three specific challenge categories, with Hushmesh featured in the “Secure Information Sharing Challenge” group.

Hushmesh earned this designation about three months after completing a $5.2 million early-stage raise to develop its “Mesh” product, which allows for automated and encrypted use of various internet platforms. Hushmesh CEO Manu Fontaine told Technical.ly via email that the company’s participation in the defense tech accelerator comes with a €100,000 grant for the first six-month prototype phase. If the company is selected for a second phase, it will receive an additional €300,000.

Fontaine said on LinkedIn that the company, which has seven employees and three advisors, will now be able to “accelerate the deployment of the Mesh to NATO’s 1B citizens across 31 countries!”

Technical.ly previously recognized Hushmesh’s CTO Neil Cohen as a 2023 RealLIST Engineer.

SparkMeter raises $5M to deploy smart grid tech even further

Energy tech company SparkMeter, which maintains offices in both DC (near the White House) and Nairobi, Kenya, secured $5 million from Honeywell Smart Energy in late November. According to an announcement, the investment and concurrent partnership with the Honeywell International subsidiary will allow SparkMeter to expand its tech both domestically and internationally.

This tech helps utility providers check on grid performance in both the US and countries around the world. The announcement noted that the company recently completed “its first utility-scale contract” with the National Energy Corporation for Somalia, with plans to wrap other contracts in Somalia and the Philippines by the end of 2023.

“Due to the lack of visibility into existing grid performance in many parts of the world, disadvantaged and rural areas often struggle with unreliable or inadequate electricity,” said SparkMeter CEO Dan Schnitzer in the announcement. “Our goal is to enable greater grid resilience by partnering with leaders like Honeywell Smart Energy to bring our plug-and-play grid management technology to address the needs of utilities in all markets.”

This raise comes about a year and three quarters after the company raised $10 million to support its international expansion.

Mergers and acquisitions

• 2022 RealLIST Startups honoree Electo Analytics, which develops software to help government affairs teams effectively map, track and affect policy, was acquired by political news startup Punchbowl News. Although neither company specified the deal’s financial terms, The New York Times reported that the acquisition puts Punchbowl News’ valuation at over $100 million.
• According to the Washington Business Journal (WBJ), Herndon, Virginia geospatial analytics company HawkEye 360 made its first acquisition by pulling Maxar Intelligence subsidiary RF Solutions under its umbrella. Sarah Erickson, an account coordinator for HawkEye 360’s public relations firm Pinkston, declined to specify the term deals on the company’s behalf.

More DC-area raises and investments from the past month

• Standd, a 2023 RealLIST Startups honorable mention whose SaaS platform helps lawyers and investors streamline document review, won the first prize and $160,000 from First Row Partners’ new Ensemble Fund competition.
• Peloria, which uses AI and qualitative research to better understand social and economic issues, raised $44,110, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.
• The WBJ reported that venture capital firm 100KM Ventures closed the first raise for its anticipated $25 million fund this fall. Founder Shalanda Armstrong declined to tell the WBJ how much was raised for the fund, which will invest in early-stage companies that operate in overlooked markets and boast diverse leadership.
• According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, defense and national security tech company Second Front Systems landed a $40 million raise led by New Enterprise Associates. The investor, among the biggest VCs in the world, boasts domestic offices in Silicon Valley, as well as Chevy Chase and Timonium, Maryland. Second Front System’s CEO Tyler Sweatt told Technical.ly that the company is remote while maintaining an office in Wilmington, Delaware.
• Rockville, Maryland biotech company OS Therapies, which works on osteosarcoma treatments, raised $700,000, according to an SEC filing
• North Carolina-based CareYaya won an $80,000 grant from Johns Hopkins University’s  School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health to launch its YayaGuideAI tool in the DC metro area. The tool uses AI to help college students provide care for adults with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
• According to citybiz+, Rockville’s Origin AI, closed a $15.9 million extended Series B with lead investor Verisure. The company was founded by former University of Maryland, College Park professor Ray Liu and uses a product called “Wi-Fi Sensing AI” to addressed crossed signals in indoor environments.
• College Park, Maryland-HQed cybersecurity talent assessment company Haystack Solutions raised $300,000, per an SEC filing.
• State of Maryland-affiliated funder TEDCO invested $250,000 into Gaithersburg, Maryland-based HR tech company VirgilHR.