Obviant, a data intelligence platform transforming how industry and government leverage U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition, contracting, and budgeting data, announced $7.1 million in seed funding. Shield Capital led the round with participation from Motivate Venture Capital, A*, New Vista Capital, Aloft Venture Capital, and Underdog Labs.
Problem being addressed: With defense budgets reaching record highs and the defense technology sector experiencing rapid expansion, companies and investors require real-time data on opportunities. Additionally, the Department of Defense (DoD) requires real-time data to evaluate the effectiveness of its budget in supporting its strategies and priorities.
Obviant’s AI-based platform brings real-time transparency and context to the defense procurement ecosystem. And by ingesting and unifying data from thousands of sources, such as program documents, defense budget justification books, and congressional reports. Additionally, Obviant provides a comprehensive and coherent view of acquisition, contracting, and budgeting information across the DoD.
This data can be aggregated by mission or program, such as contested logistics or the Golden Dome, which highlight opportunities. And Obviant combines open-source intelligence (OSINT) and customers’ data with AI-driven context and reasoning to transform defense procurement, giving customers a decisive edge in understanding and pursuing opportunities.
Momentum: This funding arrives as the defense sector is rapidly expanding to include more companies that supply emerging technologies. And Obviant customers already include high-growth defense startups, primes, global investment firms, defense advisory firms, think tanks, and multiple government agencies, all seeking faster and more innovative ways to navigate and comprehend the massive U.S. defense market.
Obviant is already enabling defense tech firms to align capabilities with sources of funding, supplying investors with diligence-ready analysis and market sizing, and helping DoD offices visualize portfolios and streamline technology transitions.
How the funding will be used: With this recent funding round, Obviant will expand the team, advance the AI capabilities of its platform, and broaden its customer base, transforming how companies, investors, and government leaders make more informed decisions across the defense sector.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are at a historic inflection point for defense acquisition. For the best capabilities to get to warfighters more rapidly, leaders across industry and government need real-time, actionable data—not guesswork or hand-built spreadsheets. Obviant’s mission is to provide that source of truth and underlying trends, so technology, policy, and investment can finally move at the speed of relevance.”
Brendan Karp, Co-founder and CEO of Obviant
“Success in selling to the DoD has been difficult because there is no real-time ‘single source of truth’ about spending on defense mission capabilities or new technologies like resilient communications or unmanned systems. Obviant’s solution unlocks better understanding of the spending on these capabilities—at any level of granularity or aggregation—to ensure better decisions.”
Michael Brown, a Partner at Shield Capital and former Director of the DoD’s Defense Innovation Unit
