Xconomy: In-Q-Tel, the CIAs Investment Arm, Quietly Backing Seventh Sense Biosystems
Summary
Arlington, VA-based In-Q-Tel—which invests in lots of startups with technologies that could aid the mission of the CIA and other U.S. security and defense agencies—was a silent participant in Seventh Sense’s $4.75 million Series A funding round back in 2008, company co-founder and CEO Doug Levinson said.Levinson declined to say why the CIA’s venture arm is backing his firm, which is developing a device that can be worn on the skin like an adhesive bandage and painlessly draws blood samples for use in medical diagnoses.He deferred comment to Lisa Bader, his group’s manager of external affairs, who replied to my inquiry via e-mail to say that In-Q-Tel would not discuss the terms of its investments.Seventh Sense’s Levinson is also a partner at Flagship, where the startup was formed to fulfill his vision of making monitoring a person’s health as simple as looking at a car’s “check engine” light.For the past several years, Levinson has focused on starting companies that improve people’s ability to deliver sophisticated diagnostic results outside of traditional laboratories.
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