TandemNSI, a public–private partnership between Arlington County, the Commonwealth of Virginia and
Amplifier Ventures that will link startups with national security agencies, launched yesterday with an invitation-only event at
The Artisphere in Rosslyn. Congressman Jim Moran (D-Va.), Jay Fisette, Arlington County board chair, and Aneesha Chopra, former White House chief technology officer, all spoke to the hundred or so gathered to honor the kickoff of the partnership.
TandemNSI (short for National Security Innovation) is an outgrowth of the Ballston Innovation Initiative. Jonathan Aberman, managing partner of Amplifier Ventures, is the driving force behind both the former and the latter organizations. TandemNSI will create a link between entrepreneurs and national security agencies, helping startups figure out what government agencies need and helping those agencies know what tech solutions are out there. Startups nationwide can participate.
"I want our younger programmers and our younger startup entrepreneurs to be as engaged in national security as they are in consumer enterprise," Aberman said. "Silicon Valley got its start because of the aerospace industry and the Department of Defense. I want to see more of those dollars spent in our region."
TandemNSI is the result of a $350,000 grant from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and a $175,000 matching grant from
Arlington Economic Development (AED). The new organization is operating as a lean startup, with Aberman as managing director and Jennifer Ives, Arlington's director of strategic partnerships, filling the role of director of innovation. (Ives is on loan from AED for a year.) Brittney Schuessler, community manager for
Foster.ly, will serve a similar role for TandemNSI.
"TandemNSI will give entrepreneurs the opportunity to sit down with potential customers and learn about their challenges," Ives explained. "It's about making sure there's a readily available pipeline of 'nontraditional performers' that want access to great agencies. Agency program managers want access to those performers to solve problems."
Ives believes that connecting these perhaps traditionally isolated players can only help move the country forward. "Basic human connectivity still gets deals done," she said," even in fast-moving tech [fields]."
For his part, Moran said that Arlington is "the right time, and the right place to see so many dreams realized. This is the ideal environment," citing the area's young, educated population, local universities and public transportation system. "There is tremendous potential, and a tremendous future."