Empowering National Security with AI-Powered Intelligence
In the complex and rapidly evolving landscape of strategic competition, where information is a critical battleground, Vannevar Labs stands as a pivotal defense technology company. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Vannevar Labs is dedicated to building cutting-edge software and hardware tools that empower frontline national security professionals. Their mission is clear: to deter and de-escalate conflict with adversaries by providing actionable intelligence, disrupting misinformation, and enabling non-traditional data collection.
From Battlefield Experience to Silicon Valley Innovation
Vannevar Labs was co-founded by Brett Granberg (CEO) and Nini Hamrick (President). Their unique background, blending deep national security experience with Silicon Valley technological prowess, forms the bedrock of the company’s approach. Brett Granberg previously worked as a venture capitalist at In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the CIA and the broader U.S. intelligence community. Nini Hamrick is a former U.S. intelligence officer with on-the-ground experience embedding with the U.S. military overseas, and previously served as the Chief of Staff to the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Complementing their leadership is CTO Scott Philips, who brings extensive experience leading engineering efforts at prominent companies applying machine learning to defense applications, including Palantir Technologies.
The company’s origin story is rooted in the founders’ firsthand understanding of the technological gaps faced by intelligence analysts and military personnel. As Brett Granberg has recounted, his experience deployed in Afghanistan in 2013, where small teams relied on embedded software engineers to build ad-hoc applications for critical counterterrorism missions, highlighted the urgent need for better, more agile technology. This direct exposure to the challenges faced by operators on the tactical edge fueled their conviction that the best of American innovation should be brought to national security missions with urgency. Vannevar Labs is named after Vannevar Bush, a pivotal figure in American science administration during World War II, who headed the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development. This namesake reflects their commitment to bridging the gap between scientific advancement and pressing national defense needs.
Since its founding, Vannevar Labs has grown rapidly, securing deployments across all U.S. service branches, multiple combatant commands, partner nations, and the intelligence community. They believe in privately funding “big bets” on mission-critical technologies and co-developing solutions directly with their customers, iterating quickly to address the most pressing information problems in national security.
Core Offerings: Sense, Decide, Act through AI and Data
Vannevar Labs organizes its technological solutions around three core pillars: Sense, Decide, and Act. These pillars represent a comprehensive approach to modern strategic competition, leveraging advanced AI models and diverse data streams.
- Sense (Digital Intelligence & Passive RF Sensing): Vannevar Labs builds a global sensing grid, combining digital and physical collection methods to deliver comprehensive situational awareness. This includes:
- Digital Intelligence: Tapping into vast amounts of publicly available data, open-source intelligence (OSINT), and other digital footprints to provide a holistic view of the information environment. This involves collecting and analyzing data from over 191 countries and supporting over 79 languages for instant translation, drawing from billions of historical data points and tens of thousands of unique data source feeds.
- Passive RF Sensing: Developing capabilities for passive radio frequency (RF) sensing to collect non-traditional intelligence. This allows for the detection and monitoring of activities based on RF emissions, providing critical insights without active broadcasting.
- Decide (Campaign Support & RF Anomaly Detection): The collected data is transformed into actionable insights using advanced AI models. This enables users to uncover critical information and inform operational planning, particularly in the context of strategic competition.
- AI-Powered Analytics: Vannevar Labs utilizes advanced machine learning, including natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision, to extract valuable information from unstructured data. Their flagship software, Decrypt, plays a pivotal role here. Decrypt helps military and foreign policy decision-makers comprehend, target, and respond to foreign entities with unparalleled precision. It is designed to quickly process vast amounts of data, allowing analysts to uncover hidden patterns and insights crucial for national security.
- Sentiment Analysis & Misinformation Disruption: A key application of their AI is in analyzing sentiment from news articles, blogs, and social media related to specific narratives. This capability is critical for understanding the strategic communication of nation-states and disrupting misinformation campaigns. As highlighted by a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Vannevar Labs, they focus on improving the accuracy of classifying sentiment across multiple languages, including Tagalog, Spanish, Russian, and Mandarin, to characterize and track the impact of malign influence operations.
- Predictive Modeling: Their AI solutions extend to predictive modeling, allowing for forecasting future scenarios and optimizing strategic planning by anticipating market shifts and behaviors.
- Act (Non-Kinetic Effects): Vannevar Labs provides tools that enable non-kinetic effects to influence adversary behavior and achieve strategic outcomes. This pillar focuses on actions that shape conflict without resorting to traditional kinetic (lethal force) means. It’s about influencing narratives, understanding adversaries, and setting conditions for deterrence. The company emphasizes that strategic competition is a “battle for hearts and minds,” involving partners and allies, and forward basing, all of which benefit from advanced, data-driven insights and capabilities.
Flagship Products and Applications
- Decrypt: As mentioned, Decrypt is their primary software product, serving as a cornerstone for intelligence analysis. It is deployed across military bases globally, empowering analysts to quickly process vast amounts of data and identify critical patterns. Its capabilities have been leveraged by the U.S. Air Force, for instance, to analyze technical documents related to adversary anti-aircraft systems.
- Maritime Vigilance: Vannevar Labs builds tools to maintain maritime vigilance, providing comprehensive situational awareness in the maritime domain. This is crucial for national security and geopolitical competition in strategic waterways.
- Support for U.S. Military & Intelligence Community: Vannevar’s technologies are actively deployed to support a wide range of missions and capabilities across all U.S. service branches, multiple combatant commands, partner nations, and the intelligence community. This broad adoption underscores the versatility and critical utility of their platforms. Their solutions are designed to support active missions, immersing the team in the day-to-day challenges of analysis and operations.
Funding and Growth Trajectory
Vannevar Labs has attracted significant investment from prominent venture capital firms. They have raised over $91.5 million across multiple funding rounds, including a $75 million Series B round in January 2023 led by Felicis Ventures, with participation from investors such as Costanoa Ventures, Point72 Ventures, and General Catalyst. This strong financial backing fuels their rapid growth and allows them to make “big bets” on innovative technologies.
The company has grown to support a wide range of missions, with over 65 active deployments across the U.S. government and over 1,200 active users. They emphasize a “remote-first” culture, attracting top talent from across the U.S. who are driven by a sense of public service and the urgency of the mission. This allows them to iterate quickly and deploy capabilities to support active missions, ensuring that their technology is relevant and impactful in real-time.
Meeting the Urgency of the Moment
Vannevar Labs operates with a clear understanding that strategic competition is happening now, not in some distant future. Their commitment is to provide the best technology today to those on the front lines. They believe that their success is tied to empowering the users at the tactical edge, allowing for rapid iteration and deployment of capabilities that directly address current and emerging requirements in national security domains.
By combining deep domain expertise in intelligence and defense with Silicon Valley’s speed in software development and AI innovation, Vannevar Labs is positioned to be a transformative force in the defense technology landscape. Their focus on non-kinetic operations, leveraging data, AI, and information advantage, reflects a forward-thinking approach to deterring conflict and safeguarding national interests in the 21st century.
