Blu Venture Investors

Blu Venture Investors, LLC is a venture capital and private equity firm based in Vienna, Virginia, focusing on seed and early-stage investments across various technology sectors. Established in 2010, the firm targets companies involved in Web 2.0, Internet of Things (IoT), software, healthcare technology, digital media, and disruptive technologies in materials and biological sciences. It aims to support innovative solutions for federal defense, homeland security, and medical device sectors, particularly in cybersecurity and other technology areas. Typically, Blu Venture Investors invests between $50,000 and $3 million in each funding round and prefers to take majority stakes in its portfolio companies. The firm also seeks to engage actively by taking board seats and providing mentorship, leveraging the extensive experience of its investors, who are seasoned operating executives across various industries. The firm primarily focuses its investments in the mid-Atlantic region, including Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., and North Carolina.

Eric Adler

Partner

Bikram Bakshi

Partner

Lily Bengfort

Partner

Keith Bozeman

Partner

Joseph Callanan

Partner

Michael Denning

Partner

Benjamin Ebenezer

Managing Principal

Matt Gittleman

Principal

Joshua Miller

Associate

Past deals in Virginia

Pearl

Venture Round in 2022
Trilogy Mentors, LLC, operating as Trilogy Mentors.com, is a mentorship company based in Richmond, Virginia, founded in 2015. It provides tutoring and mentoring services through a software-as-a-service platform that facilitates online learning. The platform connects families and parents with local university students, offering academic tutoring and athletic training tailored to help children achieve their educational and personal goals. Trilogy Mentors aims to empower students during critical moments, transforming challenges into academic successes through personalized learning solutions designed to accommodate diverse backgrounds. The company has also established a strategic partnership with Tuscany Strategy Consulting to enhance its offerings.

Ostendio

Series A in 2021
Ostendio, Inc. specializes in healthcare information security and risk management solutions tailored for healthcare organizations and medical device manufacturers. The company's flagship product, MyVirtualComplianceManager (MyVCM), is a cloud-based platform designed to streamline the development, management, and demonstration of information security frameworks. MyVCM adopts a unique bottom-up approach, engaging all employees in the security and compliance processes, while providing a comprehensive view of an organization’s cybersecurity program. This allows clients to effectively report their security posture to stakeholders. In addition to MyVCM, Ostendio offers services such as performance testing, quality management support, cybersecurity training, and risk assessment program development. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Ostendio serves a diverse clientele across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia.

ThreatQuotient

Venture Round in 2021
ThreatQuotient is a threat intelligence platform (TIP) that centrally manages and correlates unlimited external sources with all internal security and analytics solutions for contextual, operationalized intelligence in a single pane of glass. ThreatQ is also the first TIP to provide Indicator Nurturing, which goes beyond enrichment to help customers tailor indicators of compromise (IOCs) more specifically to their infrastructure. Headquartered in Northern Virginia, ThreatQuotient was founded in 2013 by two former security operations analysts to provide organizations the ability to correlate with confidence.

ThreatQuotient

Debt Financing in 2021
ThreatQuotient is a threat intelligence platform (TIP) that centrally manages and correlates unlimited external sources with all internal security and analytics solutions for contextual, operationalized intelligence in a single pane of glass. ThreatQ is also the first TIP to provide Indicator Nurturing, which goes beyond enrichment to help customers tailor indicators of compromise (IOCs) more specifically to their infrastructure. Headquartered in Northern Virginia, ThreatQuotient was founded in 2013 by two former security operations analysts to provide organizations the ability to correlate with confidence.

DeepSig

Series A in 2020
DeepSig is an early-stage startup that develops deep learning software to reinvent wireless communications. By replacing core wireless technology with deep learning, DeepSig makes communication systems faster, more cost-efficient, more secure, and able to excel in complex environments. It uses machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to learn optimized models directly from data rather than manually designing specialized algorithms, transforming wireless for 5G, IoT, and security.

Gallop.ai

Seed Round in 2018
Gallop is an AI assistant that saves employees time and money. We’ve been there. Planning a trip late at night after a long day. How much time should you leave for traffic? Should you risk connecting through O’Hare? Which airline will you get status on this year? Which hotel? Is there an option that gets you home in time to put the kids to bed? Wouldn’t it be great if someone could just figure out the best trip and plan it for you? That’s what Gallop does. We’re using AI to make planning business travel frictionless. The more you work with us, the more our software will learn how to build the perfect trip for you. Our software to gives everyone their own personal travel assistant. So, take a load off! And take your time back. We’ll get you on your way.

Ostendio

Seed Round in 2017
Ostendio, Inc. specializes in healthcare information security and risk management solutions tailored for healthcare organizations and medical device manufacturers. The company's flagship product, MyVirtualComplianceManager (MyVCM), is a cloud-based platform designed to streamline the development, management, and demonstration of information security frameworks. MyVCM adopts a unique bottom-up approach, engaging all employees in the security and compliance processes, while providing a comprehensive view of an organization’s cybersecurity program. This allows clients to effectively report their security posture to stakeholders. In addition to MyVCM, Ostendio offers services such as performance testing, quality management support, cybersecurity training, and risk assessment program development. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Ostendio serves a diverse clientele across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia.

Urgently

Series B in 2017
Urgent.ly’s Roadside is a digital roadside assistance platform that features a roadside assistance industry to the benefit of global brands, roadside assistance professionals, and consumers. Its solution delivers the quickest, safest, and most innovative roadside assistance service, products and technology by combining location-based services, real-time data, AI, and machine-to-machine communication.

PFP Cybersecurity

Series A in 2017
PFP is an agile (cloud-based or on-premise) platform that uses dynamic power behavior analysis to detect dangerous implant-based attacks in hardware, firmware, and configuration. PFP constantly monitors the power behavior of devices/IoT in data centers, critical infrastructure, and more; then, data is sent to the cloud where PFP detects malicious actors; dashboards display continuous monitoring and/or are alerted. Remediation occurs with or without human interaction. PFP then has continuous monitoring 24/7 which authenticates, detects, and remediates.

Dark Cubed

Seed Round in 2017
Dark Cubed brings security to the more than 99% of companies that do not have the resources to implement security today. Our SaaS solution augments existing firewalls to provide enterprise-grade security capabilities at a fraction of the cost and complexity of other solutions. We partner with MSPs and service providers to secure their customer base, increase revenue, and capture new customers.

Atomicorp

Seed Round in 2016
Atomicorp Ltd. develops security solutions for the protection and support of cloud, virtual, shared, and dedicated Web hosting environments. It offers Atomic Secured Linux, a security solution for Linux Web servers that provides solutions for site defacement and comment spams, Web application vulnerabilities, PCI-DSS and other regulatory compliance, rootkits and malware, denial of service attacks, XML attacks, SQL injections and cross site scripting, CSRF attacks, file and code injections, cookie and credential thefts, persistent threats, recursion attacks, data thefts and information leakages, malware uploads, and more. The company also offers Atomicorp GotRoot ModSecurity Rules, a Web server module that allows users to build a Web application firewall to protect Web applications; Atomicorp Nucleus Repository, a commercial archive that provides PHP 5.3 and related legacy support packages; and Atomicorp Repository, a Linux/MySQL/PHP archive. In addition, it offers a database of signatures, rules, and countermeasures against metacharacter attacks, remote code inclusion, XML schema attacks, buffer overflows, LDAP injection, dangling pointer attacks, and other application and Web based attacks. The company serves commercial enterprises and government agencies. It also sells its products online. The company was founded in 2007 and is based in Chantilly, Virginia. Atomicorp Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Prometheus Global, Inc.

ThreatQuotient

Series B in 2016
ThreatQuotient is a threat intelligence platform (TIP) that centrally manages and correlates unlimited external sources with all internal security and analytics solutions for contextual, operationalized intelligence in a single pane of glass. ThreatQ is also the first TIP to provide Indicator Nurturing, which goes beyond enrichment to help customers tailor indicators of compromise (IOCs) more specifically to their infrastructure. Headquartered in Northern Virginia, ThreatQuotient was founded in 2013 by two former security operations analysts to provide organizations the ability to correlate with confidence.

Avizia

Series A in 2016
Avizia is a provider of telehealth and remote conferencing platform to deploy and power system-wide telehealth programs. It is delivering on the vision of collaborative care for patients by connecting medical experts across distance through innovative, leading-edge telemedicine solutions. Supported by Cisco technology, Avizia delivers telemedicine that is as powerful as it is easy to use. Its end-to-end solution includes telemedicine devices, workflow management software, store-and-forward capabilities with EHR integration, and a line of peripherals, such as digital stethoscopes and examination cameras. Whether medical professionals are performing remote medical consultations or teaching a new procedure, Avizia makes the experience feel as if everyone is present. Avizia uses Cisco TelePresence technology to enable HD, real-time video collaboration in hospitals amongst patients and professionals.

AxonAI(ConvergentAi)

Seed Round in 2016
Inspired by natural self-organizing systems like ant colonies and bee hives, we engineer intelligent products for major markets. Our products include big data analysis tools, UAV and sensor asset command and control software, threat modeling applications, and behavioral prediction models.

PFP Cybersecurity

Series A in 2015
PFP is an agile (cloud-based or on-premise) platform that uses dynamic power behavior analysis to detect dangerous implant-based attacks in hardware, firmware, and configuration. PFP constantly monitors the power behavior of devices/IoT in data centers, critical infrastructure, and more; then, data is sent to the cloud where PFP detects malicious actors; dashboards display continuous monitoring and/or are alerted. Remediation occurs with or without human interaction. PFP then has continuous monitoring 24/7 which authenticates, detects, and remediates.

ThreatQuotient

Series A in 2015
ThreatQuotient is a threat intelligence platform (TIP) that centrally manages and correlates unlimited external sources with all internal security and analytics solutions for contextual, operationalized intelligence in a single pane of glass. ThreatQ is also the first TIP to provide Indicator Nurturing, which goes beyond enrichment to help customers tailor indicators of compromise (IOCs) more specifically to their infrastructure. Headquartered in Northern Virginia, ThreatQuotient was founded in 2013 by two former security operations analysts to provide organizations the ability to correlate with confidence.

Blue Triangle

Series A in 2015
Blue Triangle provides digital teams with a connected view of their marketing, web performance, and third-party tag analytics while constantly monitoring website code for security vulnerabilities. With Blue Triangle, teams can track the experience of every web and mobile app visitor in real time and identify specific web performance, third-party tag, and purchase path issues measurably impacting revenue. This data empowers teams to improve and secure their digital experiences along the most critical areas of the customer journey. Blue Triangle is trusted by Fortune 500 companies including The Home Depot, Marriott, and Carnival Cruise Line, and was named a Gartner "Cool Vendor"​ in 2017. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Richmond, VA.

Urgently

Series A in 2015
Urgent.ly’s Roadside is a digital roadside assistance platform that features a roadside assistance industry to the benefit of global brands, roadside assistance professionals, and consumers. Its solution delivers the quickest, safest, and most innovative roadside assistance service, products and technology by combining location-based services, real-time data, AI, and machine-to-machine communication.

ThreatQuotient

Seed Round in 2015
ThreatQuotient is a threat intelligence platform (TIP) that centrally manages and correlates unlimited external sources with all internal security and analytics solutions for contextual, operationalized intelligence in a single pane of glass. ThreatQ is also the first TIP to provide Indicator Nurturing, which goes beyond enrichment to help customers tailor indicators of compromise (IOCs) more specifically to their infrastructure. Headquartered in Northern Virginia, ThreatQuotient was founded in 2013 by two former security operations analysts to provide organizations the ability to correlate with confidence.

Senseware

Seed Round in 2015
Senseware, Inc. develops a facility monitoring and controls platform for the commercial and industrial building market. Its platform wirelessly monitors performance across various mechanical, electrical, environmental, and plumbing systems to help building managers and energy consultants run their facilities more cost-effectively. The company’s platform includes hardware and software that enable a range of applications from energy management, equipment-level asset management, HVAC control solutions, gas and water management, auditing, critical facilities management, facility maintenance and optimization, and workspace optimization. Senseware, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is based in Fairfax, Virginia.

Avizia

Convertible Note in 2015
Avizia is a provider of telehealth and remote conferencing platform to deploy and power system-wide telehealth programs. It is delivering on the vision of collaborative care for patients by connecting medical experts across distance through innovative, leading-edge telemedicine solutions. Supported by Cisco technology, Avizia delivers telemedicine that is as powerful as it is easy to use. Its end-to-end solution includes telemedicine devices, workflow management software, store-and-forward capabilities with EHR integration, and a line of peripherals, such as digital stethoscopes and examination cameras. Whether medical professionals are performing remote medical consultations or teaching a new procedure, Avizia makes the experience feel as if everyone is present. Avizia uses Cisco TelePresence technology to enable HD, real-time video collaboration in hospitals amongst patients and professionals.

Blue Triangle

Venture Round in 2014
Blue Triangle provides digital teams with a connected view of their marketing, web performance, and third-party tag analytics while constantly monitoring website code for security vulnerabilities. With Blue Triangle, teams can track the experience of every web and mobile app visitor in real time and identify specific web performance, third-party tag, and purchase path issues measurably impacting revenue. This data empowers teams to improve and secure their digital experiences along the most critical areas of the customer journey. Blue Triangle is trusted by Fortune 500 companies including The Home Depot, Marriott, and Carnival Cruise Line, and was named a Gartner "Cool Vendor"​ in 2017. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Richmond, VA.

Urgently

Convertible Note in 2014
Urgent.ly’s Roadside is a digital roadside assistance platform that features a roadside assistance industry to the benefit of global brands, roadside assistance professionals, and consumers. Its solution delivers the quickest, safest, and most innovative roadside assistance service, products and technology by combining location-based services, real-time data, AI, and machine-to-machine communication.

Avizia

Seed Round in 2014
Avizia is a provider of telehealth and remote conferencing platform to deploy and power system-wide telehealth programs. It is delivering on the vision of collaborative care for patients by connecting medical experts across distance through innovative, leading-edge telemedicine solutions. Supported by Cisco technology, Avizia delivers telemedicine that is as powerful as it is easy to use. Its end-to-end solution includes telemedicine devices, workflow management software, store-and-forward capabilities with EHR integration, and a line of peripherals, such as digital stethoscopes and examination cameras. Whether medical professionals are performing remote medical consultations or teaching a new procedure, Avizia makes the experience feel as if everyone is present. Avizia uses Cisco TelePresence technology to enable HD, real-time video collaboration in hospitals amongst patients and professionals.

ID.me

Series A in 2014
The mission of ID.me is to make the world a more trusted place by enabling transparent interactions between people and organizations. ID.me is a digital identity network that empowers consumers to prove their identity via a digital medium in contexts where it would benefit the consumer to be known. For relying parties, ID.me provides a single API endpoint through which partners can verify the identity of users attempting to access a website or to unlock an exclusive benefit. The United States Department of Commerce selected ID.me as one of the top five identity companies in America in 2013 and awarded the company a $2.8M grant to participate in the President's National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC). ID.me was a Finalist for Wall Street Journal Startup of the Year in 2013. Entrepreneur Magazine selected ID.me as one of 100 Brilliant Companies for 2014 in their June 2014 edition. Key customers include SeaWorld, Overstock.com, Under Armour, Dell, Sears Holding Corporation, and 129 additional retailers and brands.

LATISTA

Venture Round in 2013
LATISTA is a developer of mobile-enabled technology focused on improving collaboration in the construction industry. The company offers a mobile application that streamlines construction quality control and field management processes. This software facilitates communication between field teams and office personnel, addressing critical workflows such as quality management, punch lists, safety, and electronic commissioning. By providing tools for effective document management and managing project-specific plans and drawings, LATISTA aims to reduce costly rework, delays, and paperwork, ultimately enhancing the efficiency of construction projects.

PathSensors

Debt Financing in 2013
PathSensors Inc., a bioscience company headquartered in Baltimore Maryland, has developed and commercialized (CANARY) enabling the highly reliable identification of airborne and liquid-based pathogens. PathSensors currently offers three systems that provide more rapid and highly reliable identification of airborne, liquid, and surface-based pathogens. Government organizations and major companies use their systems for monitoring, detection, and identification in biosecurity, food processing, agriculture, and environmental testing. PathSensors has received funding from Blue Venture Investors, Empower Baltimore Management Corporation (EBMC), Chesapeake Emerging Opportunities Club, Virginia Active Angel Ntwork (VAAN) and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic and Development.

ID.me

Convertible Note in 2013
The mission of ID.me is to make the world a more trusted place by enabling transparent interactions between people and organizations. ID.me is a digital identity network that empowers consumers to prove their identity via a digital medium in contexts where it would benefit the consumer to be known. For relying parties, ID.me provides a single API endpoint through which partners can verify the identity of users attempting to access a website or to unlock an exclusive benefit. The United States Department of Commerce selected ID.me as one of the top five identity companies in America in 2013 and awarded the company a $2.8M grant to participate in the President's National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC). ID.me was a Finalist for Wall Street Journal Startup of the Year in 2013. Entrepreneur Magazine selected ID.me as one of 100 Brilliant Companies for 2014 in their June 2014 edition. Key customers include SeaWorld, Overstock.com, Under Armour, Dell, Sears Holding Corporation, and 129 additional retailers and brands.

PathSensors

Convertible Note in 2012
PathSensors Inc., a bioscience company headquartered in Baltimore Maryland, has developed and commercialized (CANARY) enabling the highly reliable identification of airborne and liquid-based pathogens. PathSensors currently offers three systems that provide more rapid and highly reliable identification of airborne, liquid, and surface-based pathogens. Government organizations and major companies use their systems for monitoring, detection, and identification in biosecurity, food processing, agriculture, and environmental testing. PathSensors has received funding from Blue Venture Investors, Empower Baltimore Management Corporation (EBMC), Chesapeake Emerging Opportunities Club, Virginia Active Angel Ntwork (VAAN) and the Maryland Department of Business and Economic and Development.

ID.me

Venture Round in 2012
The mission of ID.me is to make the world a more trusted place by enabling transparent interactions between people and organizations. ID.me is a digital identity network that empowers consumers to prove their identity via a digital medium in contexts where it would benefit the consumer to be known. For relying parties, ID.me provides a single API endpoint through which partners can verify the identity of users attempting to access a website or to unlock an exclusive benefit. The United States Department of Commerce selected ID.me as one of the top five identity companies in America in 2013 and awarded the company a $2.8M grant to participate in the President's National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC). ID.me was a Finalist for Wall Street Journal Startup of the Year in 2013. Entrepreneur Magazine selected ID.me as one of 100 Brilliant Companies for 2014 in their June 2014 edition. Key customers include SeaWorld, Overstock.com, Under Armour, Dell, Sears Holding Corporation, and 129 additional retailers and brands.

TroopSwap

Seed Round in 2012
Daily Deals Exclusively For The Military Community. Because A Life Of Service Should Have Its Perks! Founded by veterans, TroopSwap.com provides a channel for business to give back to the military community. We only employ military spouses and veterans for our local community outreach. 10% of profits are donated to the Wounded Warrior Project. Sign up today at http://www.troopswap.com

ID.me

Series A in 2011
The mission of ID.me is to make the world a more trusted place by enabling transparent interactions between people and organizations. ID.me is a digital identity network that empowers consumers to prove their identity via a digital medium in contexts where it would benefit the consumer to be known. For relying parties, ID.me provides a single API endpoint through which partners can verify the identity of users attempting to access a website or to unlock an exclusive benefit. The United States Department of Commerce selected ID.me as one of the top five identity companies in America in 2013 and awarded the company a $2.8M grant to participate in the President's National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC). ID.me was a Finalist for Wall Street Journal Startup of the Year in 2013. Entrepreneur Magazine selected ID.me as one of 100 Brilliant Companies for 2014 in their June 2014 edition. Key customers include SeaWorld, Overstock.com, Under Armour, Dell, Sears Holding Corporation, and 129 additional retailers and brands.

LATISTA

Series A in 2011
LATISTA is a developer of mobile-enabled technology focused on improving collaboration in the construction industry. The company offers a mobile application that streamlines construction quality control and field management processes. This software facilitates communication between field teams and office personnel, addressing critical workflows such as quality management, punch lists, safety, and electronic commissioning. By providing tools for effective document management and managing project-specific plans and drawings, LATISTA aims to reduce costly rework, delays, and paperwork, ultimately enhancing the efficiency of construction projects.