M2 Foundry
Category: AI in Defense / Aerospace
Dual-use software company building AI-native systems for national security, economic resilience, and complex critical infrastructure. M2 Foundry was founded in 2025. The company is led by Dr. Catherine Havasi. Based in Arlington, Virginia. Latest round: Pre-Seed. Key investors include New North Ventures (lead); Scott Weller / EnFi angel syndicate.
- Founded
- 2025
- Headquarters
- Arlington, Virginia
Value proposition
Bridging the "valley of death" between government R&D and commercial markets by building, funding, and transitioning dual-use technology platforms that serve both public-sector national security needs and private-sector enterprise applications.
Products and solutions
Financial System Security; Supply Chain Resilience; Secure AI Systems (AI-native tools for national security environments); Decision-Ready Information (decision-support infrastructure for high-stakes operational environments).
Unique value
Founding team combines MIT Media Lab AI research leadership (Havasi), 25+ years CIA experience including emerging tech and national security (Widener), and 20+ years enterprise tech commercialization (Sanders) — uniquely positioned to build AI-native tools that work across both government and enterprise for complex systems modeling.
Target customer
US government agencies (national security, defense, intelligence), DARPA, and enterprise customers in finance, supply chain, and critical infrastructure sectors.
Industries served
National Security / Defense; Financial Services; Supply Chain / Logistics; Critical Infrastructure; Government / Public Sector
Technology advantage
AI-native complex systems modeling at the intersection of economics, trade, national security, and AI; current DARPA performer status; dual-use platform model that compounds value across multiple customers and sectors.
How they differentiate
Unlike traditional defense contractors or cybersecurity vendors, M2 Foundry operates as a dual-use startup studio/platform that builds companies from scratch specifically to bridge government R&D and commercial markets, with deep domain expertise in AI-native complex systems modeling for economic, AI, and supply chain security.
Main competitors
Thales; Fortinet; Barracuda
Key partnerships
DARPA (current performer); New North Ventures (lead investor); EnFi co-founder Scott Weller (angel syndicate organizer).
Major milestones
Founded in 2025; became a current DARPA performer; closed Pre-Seed funding round led by New North Ventures in May 2026.
Market positioning
Early-stage dual-use technology platform competing in the defense/national security AI space, positioned at the intersection of AI, economics, and national security — a niche that larger defense contractors and pure-play cybersecurity vendors do not specifically address.
Geographic focus
United States (headquartered in Arlington, VA with proximity to DC defense/intelligence ecosystem)
About Dr. Catherine Havasi
Ex-MIT Media Lab (Director, Digital Intuition group); Ph.D. from Brandeis University. Founded Luminoso Technologies (CEO).
Official website: https://www.m2foundry.com