Reston, Va.-based Raft, a national security-focused IT services startup, has raised $60 million in growth funding from private equity firm Washington Harbour Partners, of Arlington, Va.
“Our partnership with Washington Harbour will accelerate Raft’s mission of ushering in a new paradigm for the modern warfighter, across all domains of air, land, sea, space and cyber,” said Raft founder and CEO Shubhi Mishra, a data scientist with a degree in law from George Washington University Law School.
Self-proclaimed Disruptor
“I’m better known as an intentional government technology (GovTech) disruptor by heart,” Mishra said on LinkedIn. “I love solving complex problems…I want to inspire other women in and out of the GovTech space.”
Founded in 2018, Raft focuses on the “modern digital battlefield.” Harnessing advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, the company builds solutions for federal and defense customers.
Washington Harbour founder and chief investment officer Mina Faltas hailed Raft’s “world-class capabilities, cutting-edge products, outstanding reputation and qualifications, widely celebrated culture, and singular commitment to the national mission,” saying its qualities have fostered intensely intimate customer relationships.
Raft will serve as Washington Harbour’s platform for advanced software development for the Department of Defense, Intelligence Communities, and select federal-civilian agencies, the PE firm said.
Bhaarat Sharma, Raft’s chief technology officer, said the funding would help the company build a “collective set of modern data capabilities” across offensive and defensive cyber.
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“Multilevel security on a need-to-know basis, human-machine and manned-unmanned teaming at the tactical edge, refining ML models on limited datasets, and real-time analytics are just some common requirements needed across the disparate battle network that Raft is operationalizing at multiple classification levels,” he said.
Revenue Momentum
Raft has more than 250 employees and annual revenues of about $100 million, Business Journal said, citing a company spokesperson. Revenue has nearly doubled in each of the years since its founding, it added.
Citing regulatory filings, the Journal said Washington Harbour Partners’ investment in Raft came after it likely raised more than $20.2 million across two new funds.
