The CIA's Venture Capital Arm
In-Q-Tel funds startups with tools and projects near completion that could be useful to U.S. military or intelligence agencies. This goal has made it unusually effective at government procurement.
In-Q-Tel, often abbreviated IQT, is a U.S. government-funded venture capital organization that finances technology for the CIA and other U.S. intelligence and military organizations. It is a decent-sized investor, with net assets of just under a billion dollars as of 2022.1 It was originally founded in 1999 to produce enterprise software and information technology for the CIA’s use, which it did successfully, especially in the field of computer security software. In-Q-Tel also played a role in incubating companies like Palantir and Keyhole, a mapping and imaging company which became Google Earth after its acquisition by Google. It has invested in major open-source and backend software companies like GitLab, MongoDB, and Databricks, the latter of which is considered to be the fifth-most valuable unicorn company in the world with a valuation of $43 billion as of February 2024.2 Over time, In-Q-Tel has also branched out into backing a wider variety of technologies ranging from batteries to biotechnology, with more limited results. In-Q-Tel is often compared to DARPA, another U.S. program responsible for technology development with military and intelligence applications. However, their missions and strategies are very different.