The Central Intelligence Agency’s venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel, launched Chain Bridge I last fall. The SPAC raised $200 million in a November IPO.
In-Q-Tel, which receives funding and directions from the CIA, was founded by the CIA in the late ’90s to spur private sector innovation with the goal of bringing the latest technology to market to fuel America’s covert national security operations, The Intercept reports.
Chain Bridge I is still seeking to acquire a defense contractor that is, according to the firm’s annual report, “poised to benefit” from government spending on national security.
“This is a case of the revolving door on steroids — not just using connections with former government colleagues on behalf of corporate interests, but setting up an entirely new corporate entity that trades on those ties to earn them a huge potential payoff,” said William Hartung, a senior research fellow at the Quincy Institute.
The blank check fund is clear that it hopes to raise hundreds of millions of dollars by leveraging its relationships with government decision-makers. The SPAC’s 10-K disclosure states that it will seek to acquire a national security technology company that is “poised to benefit from billions of dollars in defense spending in the near-term.” Read more.
