Chart Venture Partners' perspective on dual-use CBRNE technologies

Abstract

Chart Venture Partners' (CVP) approach to investing in Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) detection technologies can be best understood in the context of the unique partnership between the firm's two founding institutions. CVP was founded as a partnership between the Chart Group, a New York-based merchant banking and venture capital boutique, and InSitech Incorporated, a 501(c)(3) non-profit commercial partnership intermediary for the U.S. Army's Armament Research Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. The partnership between Chart Group and Insitech has yielded a new investment model. Unlike most venture funds, CVP operates with a singular focus on early-stage defense and security technologies, with the important caveat that everything we invest in must also have dual-use application in large-scale commercial markets. CVP believes that early-stage CBRNE companies require five qualities to be viable investment candidates and successful start-up companies: Great Science, Strong IP Positions, Recognized Scientific Champions, Identified Dual-Use Market Pull, and "Real World" Technical Performance Data. When earlystage CBRNE companies decide to seek venture capital and pursue higher growth dual-use business models, we often find that certain issues arise that are not always fully contemplated at the outset, and that can create gaps between what the start-up companies are offering to investors and what those investors are seeking from their potential portfolio companies. These same issues can have significant positive or negative impact on shareholder value over time, depending on how they are managed. Specifically, startups should consider carefully their strategies related to business development, market positioning, government funding, and investment syndicate formation.