It’s all about AI.
Across Greater Washington, upstart companies are building entire businesses around artificial intelligence, using the omnipresent technology to design commercial office space interiors, monitor trucking logistics on the nation’s highways, thwart cybersecurity threats and fly unmanned aerial vehicles into domains where humans shouldn’t be. There are also startups, including North Bethesda-based Blue Energy, trying to solve what is perhaps the most pressing challenge facing AI: its enormous energy consumption.
In our annual Startups to Watch issue, we are introducing you to 11 young companies starting to make a mark on the D.C. region’s tech and innovation scene. And while AI is a common thread, these upstarts are, at their core, problem solvers, using their tech know-how to, for instance, guide new mothers through the stresses of parenting, help companies reduce employee turnover or stymie disinformation campaigns before they become full-blown crises.
All of the startups profiled in this feature have been carefully selected by the editorial teams at the Washington Business Journal and DC Inno. To qualify, companies must have been founded within the last decade and not have raised more than a Series C funding round.
Alethea
About the company: D.C.-based Alethea is a tech-driven communications firm that uses AI and other tools to help organizations detect threats to their workforces, executives, brands and missions before they become full-blown crises. Its early warning system catches emerging risks online — think conspiracy theories, influencer fueled boycotts, targeted harassment of employees — and its team then works with leaders to devise strategies to combat disinformation and get ahead of the threats. The company, founded in 2019 by CEO Lisa Kaplan, counts a number of Fortune 1000 corporations as clients and also works with governments and nonprofits. One illustration of its work: Alethea’s technology was used in a New York Times report last year detailing how Russian operatives used fake versions of news websites in their social media campaigns to undermine support for Ukraine.
Why we’re watching: Alethea landed $20 million last year in a Series B funding round led by Google Ventures, bringing its total lifetime funding to about $35 million. Kaplan, meanwhile, has emerged as a leading authority on disinformation, at times briefing U.S. and European policymakers on threats and tactics used by bad actors. She is often sought out by major media outlets for commentary and analysis. — Alan Kline
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