Harpoon Ventures

Teal Drones has just secured the Army’s Short Range Reconnaissance (SRR) program of record, emerging as the sole awardee in a stunning upset. Harpoon Ventures has long recognized that unmanned systems were poised to revolutionize modern warfare. Enter Teal Drones. Harpoon worked closely with the team at Teal to tackle the Army’s SRR program and with tenacity and unwavering focus, Teal earned a shot at the SRR prototype phase. With this win, they’ve beaten an established competitor against all odds. This is not merely a victory for Teal, it's a victory for the U.S. Army and the safety and security of our armed forces. Congratulations to the entire team at Teal Drones! You can read more in The Wall Street Journal (link in the comments).

Would you try to pull a control rod out of an active nuclear reactor? Christian Keil from Astranis Space Technologies did just that. Partnering with Matt Loszak from Aalo Atomics, Christian joined a bold experiment at The University of Texas at Austin to test Uranium Zirconium Hydride (UZrH) fuel in Aalo's reactor. These two Harpoon portfolio companies are pushing the boundaries with bold ideas that could be a pathway to unlocking abundant clean energy. Very exciting indeed. Check out the video here: https://lnkd.in/gPXYQpN8

? Exciting news from the Harpoon portfolio - Merlin is making huge strides in bolstering our nation's safety and security with autonomous flight systems. The United States Air Force has officially approved their airworthiness plan for testing the Merlin Pilot on the KC-135! "Integrating the Merlin Pilot onto one of most important aircraft in the USAF’s fleet is crucial to advancing military aviation into a new era of pilot efficiency and national security, as well as progressing autonomy at scale.” - Matt George This milestone is the result of a joint effort between Merlin and the USAF, and further explores how Merlin Pilot’s advanced AI can scale for large transport aircraft. More at the link in the comments! #Aviation #Aerospace #NationalSecurity #AutonomousFlight #MerlinLabs #HarpoonVentures #USAF #KC135 #AI

It's exciting to see how technology like this is reshaping the landscape of healthcare and pushing the boundaries of modern medicine! Congratulations to Evan Feinberg and the team at Genesis Therapeutics - Harpoon is proud to partner with you! #AI #DrugDiscovery #HealthcareInnovation #GenesisTherapeutics

Fueling Mars is closer than you think. Harpoon Ventures is thrilled to announce we are co-leading an $8M seed investment in General Galactic! We believe in their mission to create fossil-free fuels and chemicals—a future powered by their Genesis technology. General Galactic will create clean energy abundance on Earth, with an eye toward eventually building fuel stations on Mars. General Galactic calls it “decarbonization without destruction.” We call it a revolution in how we think about energy. Partnering with Refactor, Seraphim Space, Pathbreaker Ventures, BoxGroup, and others, we’re investing in what’s next. Congratulations to Halen Mattison, Luke Neise and the entire team. Time to win!

At Harpoon Ventures, we're committed to the founders, engineers, and investors building SoCal’s deep tech ecosystem. To celebrate and support this momentum, we’re hosting a happy hour on?Thursday November 14th from 4-6 PM ??. Come say hello to Harpoon's Riley Loftus and Larsen Jensen! This event is for anyone pushing boundaries in AI, manufacturing, defense, space, and energy. With El Segundo emerging as a major hub in the deep tech landscape, Harpoon is there to support its evolution. Founders, engineers, VCs - we’d love to see you! Link in the comments, see you next week!

Here's a great read from Sema4.ai's Antti Karjalainen about the future of AI and how it will be shaped not only by engineers, but by our business leaders as well. Antti is the driving force behind Harpoon portfolio company Sema4.ai and he's doing exactly that—pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with AI-driven insights and actual solutions. He's leading the way in making AI scalable, transparent, and tailored to specific business needs—a crucial factor in today’s data-saturated landscape. Full article here ?? https://lnkd.in/dGWU3CVm

Harpoon Ventures was pleased to participate in San Diego Startup Week at UC San Diego! Harpoon's own Larsen Jensen was invited to join a panel discussing deep tech and dual-use technologies, covering everything from economic impacts to geopolitical implications. Thank you to Ping Wang for organizing the panel! And thank you to the event organizers for their work in highlighting San Diego's thriving startup scene and putting together an incredible group of SoCal's brightest minds. #UCSD #Startup #SDSW2024 #SanDiego #HarpoonVentures #DualUse #DeepTech

?? A round of applause for Harpoon portfolio company CyCognito, recently named one of the Top 100 AI and cloud companies to watch in Accel’s 2024 Euroscape report! The Euroscape report highlights GenAI in economic recovery, trends in private funding, and the future of the AI and cloud landscape. Harpoon is so proud to support CyCognito's innovative approach to cybersecurity; congrats to Rob N. Gurzeev and the entire team! #AI #Cybersecurity #Euroscape #HarpoonVentures #CyCognito #GenAI

? Big news from the Harpoon portfolio! Harpoon Ventures is thrilled to support Astranis Space Technologies as they roll out Nexus, their spacecraft for the Space Force’s $1.9 billion Resilient GPS program. This is huge. Astranis is tackling GPS in a brand-new orbit. For the first time, their satellites will launch into MEO, a high-radiation zone that demands the strongest and most resilient tech. With a design proven in GEO, Astranis delivers. They’re one of just four companies chosen and aim to get 8 satellites up by 2027. Leading the way in high-orbit innovation, Astranis is setting a new bar for space tech. Harpoon is incredibly proud to partner with Astranis. Huge congratulations to John Gedmark and the entire team! Read more about Nexus from CNBC: https://lnkd.in/gprGSC6c