Booz Allen invests in onboard data firm Shift5
Booz Allen Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of IT consultancy Booz Allen, has invested in Shift5, an Arlington, VA-based onboard data company.
Founded in 2019 by officers who stood up US Army Cyber Command, Shift5 focuses on defending commercial transportation systems and military platforms against operational failures and operational technology cyber risk.
Shift5’s platform collects onboard serial data and detects anomalies in real-time, directly on the vehicle, utilizing a combination of rules-based detection and advanced machine learning. Data from the fleet is then centralized on-premises or in the cloud for analysis to support threat hunting and operational efficiency.
The large amounts of data can, over time, be used to feed into better rules to continuously improve anomaly detection.
Shift5 supports multiple branches and combatant commands of the US military, as well as commercial airlines and rail.
“The nation’s adversaries view the US federal government, intelligence agencies, the military, and all critical infrastructure sectors as a single, target-rich environment—one cyber battlespace,” said Brad Medairy, executive vice president and leader of Booz Allen’s national cyber business. “In this threat landscape, this investment enables us to outpace adversaries and protect U.S. strategic advantage by enhancing weapon systems readiness. Shift5 will be a key enabler of our continued delivery of superior tradecraft for cyber-physical resilience and mission readiness.”
The Series B funding round that Booz Allen took part in reached $83 million, with Moore Strategic Ventures leading the round. Shift5 has now raised total venture funding of $108 million.
“Our partnership with Booz Allen will create new ways for our defense, aviation, and rail customers to analyze and action the onboard data from fleets that they’ve historically lacked access to, reducing decision latency and enabling them to stay ahead of critical cybersecurity and operational risks,” said Josh Lospinoso, CEO and co-founder at Shift5. “Doing this allows operators to modernize legacy systems, build next-gen fleets, and improve readiness and availability of critical OT systems.”
Booz Allen’s $100-million venture capital arm launched last summer, with a stated focus on investments in early-stage companies (seed, Series A, Series B) in the four core areas of defense, AI and machine learning, cybersecurity, and deep technology.
Booz Allen specializes in management and technology consulting for US federal clients – particularly national defense, security, and intelligence. The McLean, VA-based firm has 31,900 employees and annual revenue of $9.3 billion.
