Doubling Down on National Security: Why We Invested in Ghostdog
Kelly Perdew and I are excited to announce our latest Fund III investment in Ghostdog, adding to our powerhouse roster of dual use and defense tech companies like Red 6, ID.me, Outpost Space, Proteus Space, Transmute, and Gretel. Ghostdog is the first browser built specifically for the classified web, an integrated information platform utilized by over 5 million users in national security operations. It aims to transform the way defense and intelligence professionals find, exchange, and action on information.
These professionals currently rely on general-audience browsers which are ill-equipped for critical national security work. It’s a reality I experienced from my eight years of service with the NSA. The team at Ghostdog is building a Chromium-based tool with enhanced security features, more controls for network administrators, and with five groundbreaking extensions tailored for mission-specific tasks. Users across and within intelligence agencies will be able to gain valuable insights into trending topics of research, easily locate existing information that already covers their subject of interest, tap into a crowdsourced pool of knowledge by commenting on any web page through a sidebar extension, and connect with each other through a centralized communication hub. It’s the kind of tool every warfighter and intelligence community professional wishes they had.
Watch a sneak peek video:
Ghostdog was co-founded by former U.S. Air Force Intelligence Officers Sean Lane and Carlton (“Bubba”) Fox, repeat entrepreneurs who previously co-founded Olive.ai together. Sean and I have been close friends and business partners for over 15 years. He was my co-founder at my first company, BTS, where we developed software and hardware for the first-ever tactical and secure 3G network for the battlefield. We exited that business after the U.S. Army purchased our core software product called “Praefectus.” I went on to co-found RideScout with Joseph Kopser (which we sold to Mercedes-Benz), and eventually Moonshots Capital alongside Kelly. Meanwhile, Sean and Bubba built Olive.ai, a healthtech company that sought to transform healthcare by automating administrative tasks, streamline insurance claims and improving patient experience. Olive.ai grew to a $4 billion valuation, with the most venture capital funding ever raised in the healthtech sector. Kelly and I invested in Olive ourselves through a Moonshots Capital syndicate. Unfortunately, Olive.ai hit a series of headwinds, sold most of its assets and wound down last year.
It goes without saying that Sean has some “war wounds” from the Olive journey, particularly in 2022 and 2023, but each of those “wounds” are now valuable lessons learned. And he did achieve great success along the way working alongside well-known investors like Drive Capital, Khosla, Sequoia, SVB Capital, Vista Equity, Tiger Global, Dragoneer, and more. Ghostdog marks Sean’s return to an industry and customer he knows best — the national security sector — supercharged by a career of experiences directly relevant to Ghostdog. We remain unwavering in our faith in Sean’s extraordinary leadership — especially as applied to the industry he knows so well, where he and I previously succeeded together. Spoiler alert: Ghostdog is going to do BIG and IMPORTANT things in the national security community.
Sean’s co-founder for a second time, Bubba Fox, has 25 years of experience as an Air Force intelligence veteran, entrepreneur, and executive leader. He was Sean’s COO at Olive, and he is a proven leader who is laser-focused on people, product, and process. These two are an especially strong team operating at the speed of trust and experience.
Moonshots Capital was proud to lead Ghostdog’s Seed round, and we are especially excited to have 8VC, Shield Capital, Cerberus, and Capital Factory join us. Drive Capital provided Ghostdog’s pre-Seed funding.
Sean and I had as our BTS motto years ago: Hic Sumus Pro Bellator which means “We are here for the Warrior.” I am thrilled to be joining Ghostdog’s board, rolling up my sleeves, and helping two extraordinary leaders build an extraordinary company. To the moon we go!
Craig Cummings
General Partner, Moonshots Capital
Moonshots Capital is a veteran-founded venture capital firm that invests in early-stage startups with extraordinary leaders.
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