Squadra News: Launching The Community, AUSA next week
Connect on The Community, our gateway portal to explore, search, and access the people, companies and intel behind Squadra.
We are proud to announce the launch of The Community, our gateway portal to explore, search and access the people, companies and intel behind Squadra.
We’ve spent the last few months turning the data we’ve amassed over the last seven years into knowledge. Thousands of government offices and officials, over 3700+ defense startups and 2500+ cyber startups, the 2600+ investment firms who’ve backed them, 100+ primes, neo-primes and customers, all interconnected in one place.
Today, we’re sharing The Community with our community.
Our aim is simple. We want to fundamentally help people do what matters: raise money, hire people, get hired, sell and deliver great products, build pipeline, invest in incredible founders, and most of all meet and connect with each other.
If you’re receiving this email directly you are pre-approved.
Go to https://the-community.vc/ and sign up. See you there.
In this edition you will find:
🇺🇸 All the best at AUSA
🌟 Awards and recognition from DoW
🔊 Podcasts and features with founders
Company News to Celebrate
Airbase has been named a winner of Project Spectrum Strike by the Defense Innovation Unit. The prize challenge was set to identify technologies that automate how the United States Department of War authorizes spectrum access. Using data from Drone Dominance Gauntlet 2, Airbase’s platform carried spectrum requests from creation to decision in a single, seamless workflow at the final demonstration at Fort Carson, CO. Read more from DIU.
Citra Space Corporation has been selected to participate in the U.S. Space Force’s commercial software laboratory’s newest cohort of critical technologies. An effort between Catalyst Campus and the BMC3I TAP Lab to accelerate the advancement of mission-ready capabilities to warfighters, the cohort creates a collaboration environment for creating innovative software for battle management, command, control, communications and space intelligence capabilities. Read more in Space News.
UFORCE CEO Oleg Rogynskyy discussed his talent acquisition strategy and how the team wins on mission, culture and speed. The company has over 1000 employees and growing, even recruiting Formula1 engineers. Read more in DOU.
Endolith CEO Liz Dennett published an article exposing the many layers of our global supply chain’s dependency on copper. From electrification to energy to data centers to devices, more technology means more copper. In Dennett’s view, it’s not a copper problem, it’s a copper recovery problem. Read her article from the World Economic Forum.
PDW’s C100X drone was flown in troop training by the U.S. Army’s Emerging Threat Replication Program at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA, testing its thermal camera, ability to drop inert practice munitions and whether it could be used in future training scenarios. Read more in Defence Blog.
Squadra was proud to host the Deep Tech Startup Crawl as part of the inaugural Deep Tech Week Washington. Over 300 people attended the expo meeting 38 companies from across the DMV and beyond working in autonomy, applied AI, bio, energy, and cyber. Read the recap in Technical.ly.
Network Highlights to Share
Sicura announced the launch of Sicura AI for Governance and Enforcement (SAGE), a new tool that employs agents to build secure IT infrastructure. SAGE empowers engineers to harden and continuously remediate infrastructure at scale, while reducing time and resources dedicated to security and compliance using natural language commands. Read the press release.
Overwatch Imaging announced the release of ASO 13.0, the latest version of their Automated Sensor Operator software. New features enable automated multipoint video updates, real-time AI-driven fire perimeter mapping, and oblique linear search and detection. Read the press release.
Wyvern was selected as part of the Canada Investment Summit 2026 Pitchbook. Their project “Deployable Optics for Trusted, Sovereign ISR” was one of 167 presented to investors by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Read the press release.
UFORCE US CEO Sean Plankey was a guest on Sandy on Talent. In the episode “Finding Your Click,” Plankey discusses the role of purpose, culture, and persistence in finding a role that aligns with your strengths. Listen to the podcast.
Volund Manufacturing CEO Eric Hostetler was a guest on Machine Minds. In an aptly titled episode “The Factory is the Innovation,” Hostetler shares his theory on why the next big breakthrough is not what’s made, but how it’s made. Listen to the podcast.
Tidal Cyber hosted a workshop at Black Hat 2026 to help develop "analyst instinct." Recorded to run with your team, learn to think in adversary procedures before reaching for the console. Watch the video.
PDW welcomed Shawn Hall as their Chief Revenue Officer. A former Naval Aviator, Hall brings over 25 years of experience in the aerospace and defense indsutry to lead the company’s global revenue strategy across the U.S. and allied nations. Read the press release.
Aurelius Systems welcomed Brice Cooper as their Chief Strategy Officer. Cooper’s career began in the U.S. Army spanning military acquisition, congressional affairs and special operations, and most recently in roles at defense industry neo-primes. Read the press release.
Open Roles Across the Squad
✈️ PDW is hiring a Revenue Operations Manager to run core commercial operations across bookings, revenue support, reporting, and product administration to ensure critical processes are accurate, timely, scalable, and supported by reliable data. Location: Remote, USA
🚤 UFORCE is hiring a Lead Recruiter to own end-to-end recruitment for priority roles across Europe building proactive talent pipelines, working with hiring managers, and owning the candidate journey from first conversation through offer and close. Location: Paris, France
🛡️ Shift5 is hiring a People & Talent Coordinator to serve as the key coordination and project partner across the recruiting and people operations functions, driving processes, coordination, onboarding, and employee programs operations. Location: Arlington, VA
🛰️ Airbase is hiring a Strategy & Operations Lead to work, win, execute and build business opportunities. Splitting time between go-to-market and operations, this role will wear many hats, owning outcomes end to end. Location: New York, NY
🌊 Tidal Cyber is hiring a Product Manager to own integrations and product content that bring security and threat data into the company's platform. This role will guide a technical development team, make decisions and maintain momentum. Location: Remote, USA
Up Next this Month
ISR Drone Showcase — 10/7-8: Bringing together military personnel, government agencies, law enforcement, first responders, UxS suppliers, and subject matter experts, ADS is hosting a fly day in Leesburg, VA. PDW will demonstrate how the C100 extends operators’ reach, delivers critical situational awareness, and provides the information needed to make faster, better-informed decisions at the tactical edge. Qualified attendees can register with ADS.
Party in the AUSA — 10/13: Calling all founders, funders, and friends in cyber and national security headed to AUSA 2026! Back for the 4th year in row, join us for our annual all-squad celebration. Our team will be there in force alongside our portfolio companies and ready to kick-off a great week. Special thanks to Shift5, Overwatch Imaging, Aurelius Systems and Primordial Labs for co-hosting this event with us. Register on Luma.
What’s Next for NetRise — 10/19: Dragos has closed its acquisitions of NetRise and RunZero, now united on a mission to safeguard the world's most critical infrastructure. Join the combined leadership team for a conversation on where xOT is headed, the threats reshaping the next decade and how this combination positions the OT community to get ahead. Register for the webinar.
Breaking Boundaries in National Security — 10/20: It’s a long road from R&D in the lab to deployment in the field. Hosted alongside Johns Hopkins University Technology Ventures, the SAIS Emerging Technologies Initiative, and Technical.ly, join us for an evening of lightning talks to hear from innovators, scientists, and entrepreneurs during DC Startup & Tech Week. Register on Luma.
Golden Dome by the Golden Gate — 11/3: We’re joining forces with portfolio companies Aurelius Systems and SysGit to showcase the defense technologies being built in downtown San Francisco. Join us for drinks and great conversations with founders, operators, manufacturers and investors. Register on Luma.
Final Look from the Field
Copia Automation hosted their all-hands off-site last month bringing together their 68 team members for three days of connection, collaboration, and a little New Orleans magic. From roundtables and group experiences to an unforgettable surprise Second Line through the French Quarter, it was a retreat that will have lasting impact on the team.
Copia's cyber resilience software allows industrial organizations to get automation assets back up and running after cyber attacks and other downtime incidents.
By providing unparalleled visibility and control of industrial automation code across multi-vendor devices, the company delivers continuous quality control, streamlined production and preemptive crisis management.
Squadra Ventures is a venture capital firm led by founder-operators that invests in early-stage national security companies advancing the critical edge.
Grounded in the belief that success is a combination of people, product, and planning, the Squadra team provides transformational support to startup leaders in the complex dual-use technology ecosystem. By applying a growth-stage mindset at the seed stage and a commitment to building alongside entrepreneurs, Squadra empowers extraordinary teams to win and leave a lasting positive impact on the world.
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