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Editor’s Brief

After our Firestorm Labs analysis, a Marine Corps friend shared an article he wrote that expands on the concept of distributed lethality. One key insight: "Instead of carrying a finite amount of conventional ordnance, creating a kill web of loitering munitions can provide the MQ-9 with a supply of explosives limited only by how much each unit in the battlespace can carry." This approach highlights the shift toward autonomous, scalable strike capabilities. Read the full article here.

This week we turn our focus to Vannevar Labs, whose AI-powered intelligence platforms are dramatically reducing analysis time for battlefield data in foreign languages.  As peer adversaries accelerate their activities, intelligence that arrives too late—no matter how accurate—provides little operational value.

As always, your feedback shapes our coverage—reply directly with insights or questions.

Signal Brief: Vannevar Labs - Accelerating Intelligence Analysis for Great Power Competition

Vannevar Labs is transforming military intelligence with AI tools that dramatically accelerate the processing of battlefield data in languages like Mandarin and Russian. Their flagship product Decrypt—an end-to-end workflow for open-source intelligence (OSINT) and foreign language documents—addresses one of DoD's most critical vulnerabilities: enabling intelligence officers to rapidly extract actionable insights from vast amounts of unstructured data.

Origins and Vision

Founded in 2019, Vannevar Labs was born from intelligence officers witnessing critical battlefield data arrive too late. Brett Granberg, who built AI systems for the CIA and NSA before joining In-Q-Tel, partnered with Nini Hamrick, a veteran intelligence officer with seven years of counterterrorism deployments alongside military units while at Stanford GSB

After spending months on a non-urgent Arabic OCR (optical character recognition) problem, Vannevar rapidly prototyped "Decrypt"—a simple search platform with a two-person engineering team. This MVP instantly resonated with operators who interrupted demos declaring: "I need this on my deployment now." A modest $25,000 pilot generated intelligence briefed to senior officials which led to a $1.3 million contract in just four months.

This experience shaped Vannevar's core philosophy: rapidly delivering workable solutions for urgent problems is more valuable than perfecting less critical capabilities. By embedding engineers directly with intelligence officers, they shrink development cycles from years to weeks while ensuring every feature addresses operational requirements.

Key Takeaways:

• AI-Powered Intelligence Is Field-Ready: Vannevar's 65 DoD Deployments and 1200+ users proves AI for intelligence analysis has moved beyond experimentation to operational reality.

• Speed-to-Capability Matters: Their rapid iteration approach has delivered operational tools in months, providing a blueprint for modern defense tech development.

• Profitability Alongside Growth: Achieving profitability while growing from $3M to $80M in revenue in 2024 demonstrates a sustainable business model rarely seen in venture-backed startups.

• Urgency Must Be Validated with Operators, Not Bureaucracies: Vannevar learned that embedding with mission users—rather than relying on program offices—ensures focus on current operational challenges rather than outdated priorities.

Tech Radar: Vannevar Labs' Key Platforms

Decrypt – End-to-End Foreign Intelligence Workflow

Decrypt is Vannevar's flagship platform, designed to enhance intelligence officers' ability to efficiently process foreign-language battlefield data. Decrypt has evolved into a comprehensive intelligence workflow system that immediately translates, analyzes, and extracts insights from vast amounts of foreign-language content.

Key Capabilities:

• Multilingual Processing – Automatically translates and analyzes content in critical languages including Mandarin, Russian, and Arabic, enabling English-speaking analysts to work with foreign data in real time

• Attribution Management – Handles all operational security concerns for analysts, using sophisticated obfuscation techniques that prevent adversaries from detecting intelligence collection

• Rapid Deployment – Can be installed and operational within days at forward bases, requiring minimal training for immediate battlefield impact

• Open Architecture – Integrates seamlessly with existing government systems, extending rather than replacing current tools

• End-to-End Integration – Provides a turnkey solution from collection through analysis, eliminating the security and efficiency gaps created when analysts must cobble together separate tools for each step in their workflow

Emerging Product Portfolio

Vannevar Labs has expanded beyond Decrypt, building a multi-domain intelligence ecosystem to address the full spectrum of information warfare:

• Digital Intelligence – Serra enhances Decrypt with text analytics for strategic intelligence, while beta products TIE and Curator refine narrative analysis and translation.

• Maritime Domain Awareness – Revere and Foreshadow provide persistent monitoring of gray-zone naval activities, critical for Indo-Pacific operations.

• Information Operations – Overwatch and Local detect and counter adversary influence campaigns, giving commanders real-time visibility into disinformation threats.

• Mission Augmentation – Telescope supports specialized units with tailored collection and analysis capabilities.

Vannevar’s most significant shift is its expansion into hardware, developing low-cost, expendable RF sensors for Indo-Pacific operations. By integrating advanced software with purpose-built collection platforms, Vannevar is addressing ISR gaps where traditional systems remain vulnerable to China’s growing anti-access capabilities.

Market & Career Signals

Funding & Growth

• Total Funding: $91.5 million across three rounds

• Latest Round: $75 million Series B (January 2023) led by Felicis Ventures

• Notable Investors: Felicis Ventures, DFJ Growth, Aloft VC, General Catalyst, Point72 Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Shield Capital

• Valuation: $1.5B in October of 2024

• Annual Contract Value Growth: $3.5M (2021) → $25M (2022) → $49M (2023) → $80M (2024)

Profitable since 2021—a rarity among high-growth, venture-backed startups—Vannevar has built a capital-efficient, sustainable business model optimized for government contracts.

Contracts and Government Traction

Vannevar has secured multiple contracts to include

• DIU Real-Time Information and Effects (RIE) Program - Production contract awarded November 2024 with a ceiling value of $99 million and $16 million obligated upon award.

• Advanced Battle Management Systems (ABMS) Support - Part of a $950 million multiple-award IDIQ contract awarded in September 2022 by the Department of the Air Force, running until May 2025

• Washington Headquarters Services - Multiple prime contract awards in September 2024 for production engineering and technical services under an OTA, totaling over $2.9 million

While the large-ceiling IDIQ enables future orders, actual funds obligated and task orders issued will determine real contract value. Vannevar's success in transitioning from prototype to production is notable, as this step represents a critical hurdle where many innovative defense technologies fail.

The greatest implementation risk for Vannevar comes at the intersection between commercial AI capabilities and classified environments. Industry professionals who can navigate this boundary - bridging Silicon Valley development approaches with DoD security requirements - will create disproportionate value compared to those who excel at either domain individually.

Looking Ahead

The DIU production contract and recent Marine Corps adoption signal a shift in how the Pentagon approaches AI-driven intelligence. By streamlining procurement pathways, DoD is favoring agile startups like Vannevar Labs over traditional defense primes. This aligns with the Marine Corps’ 2024 guidance emphasizing AI’s potential to enhance speed, accuracy, and adaptability while reducing human workload in complex operational environments.

However, AI-powered platforms like Decrypt rely on consistent connectivity—something rarely guaranteed at sea. Carrier-based intelligence teams frequently contend with limited bandwidth and high latency, restricting access to real-time AI-driven insights. In a high-end conflict, RF spectrum degradation and strict emissions control (EMCON) protocols could further disrupt or disable network-dependent systems, raising critical concerns about operational reliability.

To be truly effective, AI-driven intelligence must be designed for degraded environments, where connectivity is unreliable or nonexistent. If Vannevar Labs can adapt its tools to function without continuous network access, it could fundamentally transform expeditionary intelligence aboard carriers. AI developers who prioritize deployment solutions for disconnected and classified settings will not only secure a strategic advantage but redefine AI’s role in modern naval warfare.

Challenges:

• Classified Deployment Complexity – Navigating the technical and procedural hurdles of integrating AI into classified networks

• User Adoption at Scale – Transitioning from early adopters to enterprise-wide implementation across DoD

• Enterprise Integration – Ensuring seamless compatibility with existing intelligence systems and workflows

Bottom Line

Vannevar Labs represents a new archetype in the defense industrial base: a software-first prime contractor built for great power competition. Their $99 million production contract, coupled with the March 2025 SecDef memo mandating streamlined acquisition pathways, signals a fundamental shift in defense procurement. This new model favors specialized technology providers over traditional integrators, creating opportunities for companies that can rapidly develop and deploy software-driven capabilities.

The company’s most immediate impact will be in the Indo-Pacific, where distributed maritime operations demand resilient intelligence solutions that function in contested, communications-degraded environments. Deploying Decrypt aboard carriers and amphibious vessels, alongside RF sensing technologies on surface ships and helicopters, could form an integrated intelligence mesh—maintaining effectiveness even under adversary electronic warfare attacks on traditional C4ISR networks.

Over the next 18 months, Vannevar’s trajectory will reveal whether its mission-driven AI approach becomes a blueprint for defense innovation or remains an outlier, hinging not just on technological capability, but on its ability to help defense leaders rethink how software-driven intelligence is deployed in modern warfare.

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