Forward Deployed VC

I'm Mark Scianna, an investor focused on the world's most important missions. Together with investors, we support engineers bringing technology to the front lines of our biggest challenges and opportunities: - National Security - Public Safety - Transportation - Clean Energy As an operator, most of my experience was at Palantir, where I was a founding member of their defense team, spending 11 years as a forward deployed engineer. I was the team lead for “Palantir Forward” (the basis for an 800M Army contract), and “Palantir Mobile” (a product used by federal law enforcement). In support of our customers, I had the privilege to deploy to Afghanistan, Iraq, Germany, Japan, and the Horn of Africa. We not only developed life saving products, but also built an incredibly valuable business: revenue grew from zero to billions, and the company IPO'd in 2020. As a venture investor, I got my start in 2010 by participating in Palantir’s Series D round, becoming the only employee to purchase preferred shares. In 2014 I began attending and investing at Y Combinator Demo Days. In 2018 I completed YC's Startup Investor School. Notable Investments: - Palantir, 2010 Series D - Statuspage.io, 2014 Seed (status and incident communication) - GBatteries, 2014 Seed (ultra-fast battery charging for drones, tools, vehicles) - Oklo, 2015 Seed (micro-reactors powered by nuclear waste, decades of clean power) - Lyft, 2015 (transportation/delivery) - Paladin Drones, 2018 Seed (live overhead view for first responders) - Biobot Analytics, 2018 Seed (wastewater epidemiology, community health metrics) - Sixfold Bioscience, 2018 Seed (targeted mRNA therapies) - Adyton, 2019 First Investor (mobile defense tech) - AmpUp, 2019 Seed (smart ev charging network) - Lumineye, 2019 Seed (wall-penetrating radar) - Abatable, 2021 Seed (carbon offset procurement) - Govly, 2021 Seed (improve govt contracting)