$50K Fairfax Founders Fund Grants Awarded To 3 McLean Tech Startups

MCLEAN, VA — Three McLean-based companies were among the eight innovative startups the Fairfax County Department of Economic Initiatives selected to receive grants from the Fairfax Founders Fund.

The FFF provides technical help and $50,000 grants to provide early-stage funding for startups developing potential, innovative technology solutions and demonstrating business growth opportunities.

"The Fairfax Founders Fund is instrumental in catalyzing the growth of our county's innovation economy," said Rebecca Moudry, director of Fairfax County's Department of Economic Initiatives. "By providing crucial seed funding and support, we are empowering these eight exceptional startups to transform their visionary ideas into tangible products and services. This investment not only fosters technological advancement, but also drives job creation and economic prosperity within Fairfax County."

In choosing the award recipients, FFF targets companies that:

• Bolster economic development by fostering innovation-driven businesses and job creation, while preparing young companies for future investment opportunities.
• Promote Fairfax County's advantages by connecting startups with local partnerships and fostering the development of competitive technology clusters within the county.
• Champion economic mobility by providing a new source of early-stage capital to high-growth businesses with diverse ownership. The program specifically targets outreach to underrepresented and diverse founders, including women, people of color, veterans, and persons with disabilities.

The three startups based in McLean that were awarded FFF grants are :

• PLURIBUS Inc. is headquartered at 1640 Boro Place Suite 447 in McLean. "We are pioneering new methodologies of data science, data analytics, decision science, and geosocial & geospatial awareness, according to the company's website. "And because we believe there's no real design, only redesign, we're leveraging the history of these elements to (re-)apply them with new technological augmentation."
• NIOSolutions Inc. has its headquarters at 1765 Greensboro Station Place, Suite 900 in McLean. "Our aim is to simplify the technology adoption for companies and partner with them on their digital transformation journey," the company says on its website.
• Saltenna LLC's headquarters are located at 1751 Pinnacle Drive, Suite 600 in McLean. On its website, the company describes itself as a pioneer in Plasmonics, which is a new wireless communications and sensing technology. " We are developing high-speed, high bandwidth, and secure wireless communications in difficult edge environments where current radios, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optical, audio, and other systems fail."

The five other companies to receive FFF grants are Karambit.AI in Annandale; ZipID, Inc. in Alexandria; Magna Labs Inc. in Falls Church; and KAPPA AgTech and NanoNiFe LLC, which are both located in Vienna.

Each of the eight companies will receive a $50,000 grant to fuel their growth. The awards will be celebrated during a ceremony later this fall.

More information about program details, eligibility criteria, and future cohort information can be found on the Founders Fund page.