Marque Connects defense customers with visionary founders
The U.S. Department of Defense seeded the companies that built our present creating Silicon Valley and the modern venture capital industry - the internet, touchscreen interfaces, and GPS navigation all came out of federally funded labs.
Today, “The Valley of Death” - the delay between finding product market fit and generating revenue caused by the defense budgeting process makes investing in early-stage defense companies too risky for most VCs.
We believe this is a problem worth solving, so we are rebuilding bridges between DoD and private industry - investing in companies with defense use-cases and supporting them at every stage of their journey.
Mission
At Marque Ventures, we envision a world of radical abundance, personal freedom, and geopolitical stability guaranteed for all by the unassailable strength of America and her allies.
We invest in the entrepreneurs building the future of American defense, manufacturing, and deep tech innovation by holistically supporting portfolio companies with expert guidance, unparalleled government knowledge, and extensive access to capital.
Team
Jake chapman
Partner
VC fund manager with top decile track record, 3x Founder, and former start-up/VC General Counsel. JD from University of California, Berkeley.
TIP Myers
Partner
Veteran business operations leader and financial analyst. Former USMC Infantry Officer. MBA from Wharton majoring in Finance and Entrepreneurship.
Travis Ledwith
Partner
Founder, corporate ventures executive, CDO/CMO, and Naval Intelligence Officer. MBA from Columbia University and London Business School.
Mike Sanzari
Entrepreneur in residence
Software engineer with background in robotics and automation. Developed the smart shopping cart at Caper prior to Instacart acquisition.
Maddy goncalves
Principal
FY23 Defense Ventures Fellow and former Army Comptroller. Masters in AML & Counter-Terrorist Financing from Charles Sturt University.
Advisors
Joe Felter
Director and Co-Founder of the Gordian Knot Institute for Defense Innovation at Stanford University, Founder of BMNT and Hacking for Defense, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Indo-Pacific, and Army Special Forces and Foreign Area Officer. PhD from Stanford, MPA from Harvard Kennedy School.
David Rader
Senior Advisor to innovators, investors, and warfighters. Former Deputy Director of Global Investment & Economic Security at DoD, Vice President at J.P. Morgan, Manager at EY, Associate at RAND, and Army Infantryman. MBA from Northwestern Kellogg and MS in Finance from Johns Hopkins.
Letter of Marque
During The Age of Sail, a letter of marque and reprisal was issued to owners of American privateer ships by the Continental Congress authorizing the bearer to attack vessels of an adversary nation in the service of the United States.
In a similar vein, Marque Ventures is engaging private capital to support national security objectives by bringing cutting-edge technology to the Department of Defense (DoD) and generating exceptional returns to our investors.
