Remember when we were way in the weeds on the nuts and bolts, unsexy side of the defense industry? Well, we’re back—it’s time to talk contracting.
This morning, AI-powered government market intelligence platform (say that five times fast) Pryzm announced that it’s raised $12.2M in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) with participation from XYZ, Amplify.LA, and Forum Ventures.
Pryzm CEO Nick LaRovere told Tectonic that the funding will enable Pryzm to hire and scale its platform—which, put simply, helps clients navigate the federal government by tracking contacts, visualizing the bureaucracy, and managing government-contracting pipelines.
“We want to get the best technology to the missions that matter most,” he said. “What that actually means is that we need to get through the bureaucratic procurement process of federal contracting so that the war fighter, our elected officials, and our civil servants all have the best of the best technology.”
Fix the plumbing: We spend a lot of time talking about the go boom of it all around here, but all of those shiny, whizzy things we all know and love are pretty useless if they don’t actually get to the government customer.
Pryzm puts crossing this so-called “valley of death” at the center of what it does—basically, its software makes federal data decipherable, navigable, and usable by everyone from investors to founders to government users.
- The company was founded in Boston back in 2022 by alumni of defense and government contracting giants like Lockheed Martin and Palantir.
- The team—led by co-founders LaRovere, David Istrati (now CTO), Justin Deckert (now CGO), and Matt Hawkins (now head of federal)—raised a $3M seed round led by XYZ Venture Capital and Amplify.LA in the summer of 2024.
- The company has achieved impact level 5 (IL5) and FedRAMP High, which means that they can work with sensitive Pentagon information.
- Think of the platform as a CRM—but for people trying to sell into the government.
And Pryzm already has some pretty impressive companies using the software. Customers include Forterra (ground autonomy), Huntington Ingalls (shipbuilding giant), and REGENT Craft (new-age sea glider company), according to LaRovere.
Plus, in the past year, Pryzm has started working with the government itself. “The Department of War saw some of the great work we were doing in the commercial sector,” LaRovere said. “We are now actually partnering directly with the DoW on how they do acquisitions and procurement.
Friends in high places: LaRovere said that bringing a16z on board will open up a lot of doors in Washington. “I think they do a really good job at helping you build…bringing on first-class operators and opening doors to customers on the federal and the industry side,” he said.
Plus, the fund has been mega-involved in the acquisition policy debate—and is helping Pryzm get in the game, too. “They have already…helped us look at policy more assertively,” LaRovere said. “There is such receptivity right now on the Hill to accelerate defense and federal acquisitions.”
Glow up: So, what’s the plan from here?
- LaRovere said that the team is currently at about 20 people and plans to use the cash to hire more on the engineering, sales, and marketing teams.
- Pryzm will also expand its offices in DC and Boston, and plans to set up shop in NYC as well.
- A bunch of the funding will also go towards maintaining their government compliance certifications.
- Pryzm will remain focused on the US, but international coverage may expand, especially with FMS reform.
All in all, LaRovere says that the contracts their customers are winning prove that the platform works. “We are winning the deals that we are on. People are moving [and] expanding with Pryzm,” he said. “As they grow, we grow. It’s kind of this very [symbiotic] cycle where we’re supporting their growth, and as they grow, we are growing accordingly.”