From Google to Expedia to Agilent, spinouts have a long history in the tech industry. By converting technology, people, and other assets into a stand-alone business, the new entity can find its place in the market more readily while exploring a wider variety of opportunities. The originating organization benefits too, as it can return its focus back to its core mission with the spinout pushed out of the nest. As part of its continuing efforts to invest in innovation at scale, a major consulting firm has continued the trend by launching a pair of new businesses from its internal development efforts.
Management and technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton recently announced the launch of two companies, Modzy and SnapAttack, both spinouts developed from its in-house efforts to innovate and pursue market gaps. The two new companies are poised to expand into markets beyond those traditionally serviced by Booz Allen and mature their offerings in real-world business opportunities.
“Spinouts represent a maturation of our solutions business and demonstrates our commitment to invest in innovation at scale through identifying, evaluating, incubating and scaling businesses at the intersection of mission and technology,” said Frank DiGiammarino, a Booz Allen Executive Vice President.
Modzy is developing and iterating a software platform to accelerate production-ready AI systems, looking to grow its federal and commercial customer base while expanding a partner ecosystem and developer community. SnapAttack is a cyber intelligence product house that was spun out just prior to Modzy. The product was developed by Booz Allen’s DarkLabs organization, a group of researchers, threat hunters, penetration testers, engineers, analysts, and data scientists focused on helping enterprises identify risks and strengthen systems prior to attack by malicious actors. The program provides venture-capital-style research and prototyping to rapidly design, create, and test new services and solutions.
Booz Allen has invested significant sums into innovating new technology and services, and if the two most recent launches are any indication, its efforts are paying off. The firm will hold significant minority stakes in the new businesses, and going forward will continue its strategy of letting new offerings grow by letting them go out on their own.
