technology

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Students: Keep the Career Center’s Farm Animals — “A staff proposal to revamp the animal-science program at the Arlington Career Center, including the removal of on-site large non-domesticated animals, is drawing brushback. The proposal calls for focusing more on smaller, domestic animals at the expense of farm animals, which have been part of the program for years and have come to be a beloved part of the Career Center family.” [InsideNova]

NBC 4 Profiles ACFD Mass Shooter Plan — “The Arlington County Fire Department is leading a national shift in how rescue squads respond to mass shootings.” Arlington fire trucks are now equipped with bulletproof vests and personnel are trained to treat victims as soon as possible. [NBC 4]

Arlington Rent on Par with D.C. — “The District and Arlington County are virtually tied for average apartment rent, at $2,233 and $2,236 respectively. Rents in D.C. and Arlington County are both up 4.3% in the last year.” [WTOP]

Local Tech Firm Not Meeting Job Hype, Yet — “Blockchain software developer Block.one promised in September to add 170 jobs in Arlington over three years, so we’re checking in on where its local employee numbers stand. Out of the 231 employees the company has listed on LinkedIn, 24 are now located in the D.C. area.” [Washington Business Journal]

How One Young Resident Affords Housing Here — “In 2013, [Mallory Scott] and one roommate moved into a three-bedroom, World War II-era Arlington house where the monthly mortgage and property taxes totaled $1,200. She had a connection that helped her find the place: Her parents, who now live in Nevada, purchased the home in 1991 for $190,000 when the Army assigned Scott’s father to Arlington. Today, it’s worth roughly $800,000.” [WAMU]

Neighborhood Near Clarendon Profiled — “Lyon Village is a chic, charming neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia, that resides regally just across the river from Washington, D.C. The 191-acre community of 6,000 residents, which was established in the mid-1920s by developer Frank Lyon for whom it is named, still retains a small-town, good-to-see-you feel yet offers access to all the cultural activities and amenities of the nation’s capital.” [Mansion Global]

Arlington Auto Refinancing Startup Revs Up With Millions in New Funding

By Vernon Miles

Startup Monday header

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings.

MotoRefi, a Ballston-based car refinancing company, has fueled up with a new batch of funding and welcomed a former Uber executive along for the ride.

The company just raised $8.6 million in Series A funding, an announcement that was paired with news that former Uber executive and D.C.-based venture capitalist Rachel Holt is joining the company’s Board of Directors. Holt was an early investor in MotoRefi but joined the company in an official capacity this month.

“I’m eager to bring my experience building Uber to MotoRefi’s Board,” Holt said in a press release. “MotoRefi is transforming the world of auto financing. I’m proud to have been an early investor and am extremely excited about the team they’ve built.”

The press release noted that the new funding will allow the company to scale up with new lenders and partners.

MotoRefi checks your auto loan interest rate and tries to offer a better rate than what is provided by the dealership, factoring in things like improved credit scores.

“You make payments every month, but do you ever wonder if you could be paying less?” the company said on its website. “That’s where MotorRefi comes in.”

The company, started in 2017, aims to simplify the refinancing process to make it more accessible for the average driver still making payments on their car.

Photo courtesy MotoRefi

Arlington Ranked No. 3 Best Place for Women in Technology

By ARLnow.com

Startup Monday header

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings.

Arlington is the third-best place for women who work in tech, according to a new study.

The website SmartAsset ranked local jurisdictions by looking at a number of factors — including income relative to housing costs, the gender pay gap, percentage of tech jobs filled by women, and the four-year rate of tech employment growth.

Arlington placed No. 3, while D.C. ranked No. 2 and Baltimore ranked No. 1, according to SmartAsset’s methodology. Per the website:

Arlington, Virginia has consistently ranked as one of the most livable cities in the U.S., partially due to its affordable housing costs as compared to income. In this study, we found that average earnings after housing costs for women working in tech were $65,210 in 2018, the sixth-highest amount for this metric across all 59 cities. Additionally, women constitute 34% of the tech workforce in Arlington, which is the sixth-largest percentage in the study for this metric.

In all, 59 of the largest U.S. cities were ranked.

Arlington ranked highly compared to San Jose, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley, mostly due to lower relative tech employment among women and a larger gender pay gap there. San Jose’s gender pay gap of 83% compared to Arlington’s 89%, while 34.5% of tech jobs in Arlington were filled by women, compared to only 21.5% in San Jose.

Sarah Eastman, a co-founder of Boolean Girl Tech in Arlington, said the county’s recognition is “well-deserved.” The company has earned national recognition for its classroom kits and camps aimed at getting young women interested in coding as part of an effort to combat the gender disparity in the tech industry.

“At Boolean Girl, we see it firsthand in our Ambassador Network, a robust community of local women in STEM who volunteer at our summer camps and Clubhouse, providing role modeling and mentorship for our girls as they learn coding, engineering and other STEM skills,” said Eastman. “These women are emblematic of the impressive talent-level in Arlington, as well as the community’s focus on giving back to the next generation, helping girls learn about STEM in a collaborative and welcoming environment.”

There are a number of resources for women in technology in Arlington and the region. Arlington Economic Development has held a number of events focused on helping female entrepreneurs, for instance, while the groups Women Who Tech and Women in Technology are active in the region and hold occasional events.

Artificial Intelligence Company in Crystal City Plans Expansion After Big Investment

By Vernon Miles

Startup Monday header

Editor’s Note: Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

Scoutbee, a tech company based in Crystal City, is looking to scale up after scoring $60 million in a fresh round of funding.

The company builds software that links artificial intelligence (AI) technology and big data to create more efficient supply shipments. The technology can track trends and make predictions based on extensive data about where certain types of supplies are needed.

The firm, founded in 2015 and also based in Germany, has contracts with high-profile companies like Airbus and Bosch.

The new funding will allow the company to expand by 100 employees and double down on research and development for new products, the company said in a press release.

“Scoutbee will further expand its R&D, accelerate customer growth and explore strategic acquisitions,” the company said in a press release. “Scoutbee’s already diverse team will be scaled up from 120 staff today to around 220 across Berlin, Wurzburg and Washington D.C. by the end of 2020 (including new roles in engineering, AI / ML, product development, sales and marketing).”

The central product at scoutbee (the lower case name is the official company name, not a typo) is called ARTIMIS, an AI tool that the company says “continually mines vast amounts of data and centralizes details about suppliers and products across hundreds of dimensions and across languages.”

The company currently has offices at 2550 S. Clark Street in Crystal City.

Photo via scoutbee/Facebook

Biz Talk: Culpepper Garden Selects Three Awardees for $12,000 Innovation in Healthy Aging Challenge Grants

By ARLnow.com Sponsor
Winners of Culpepper Garden’s Innovation in Healthy Aging Challenge

This article was sponsored by Arlington Economic Development‘s Business Investment Group.

Culpepper Garden, a nonprofit, affordable housing community for older adults, is looking for ways to help its residents and other Arlingtonians benefit from technology and innovation.

Earlier this month, Culpepper Garden held its first Innovation in Healthy Aging Challenge. The organization established this program through a grant from Arlington County focused on addressing the “Digital Divide,” which limits low-income residents’ access to and benefits from innovative technologies.

“We were overwhelmed by the number of innovative companies who applied for the Challenge,” stated Linda Kelleher, Executive Director of Culpepper Garden. “The impressive awardees were selected from robotics, telehealth and virtual reality companies from around the country.”

As part of the challenge, startup technology companies were invited to apply and showcase their products and services and their benefits to seniors and those choosing to age in place here in Arlington.

A panel of judges, including Arlington County officials, health care providers, tech company CEOs, technology developers, venture capitalists, academic representatives and Culpepper Garden residents, selected finalists and awardees based on online applications. Finalists then presented their products at a “Pitch Day” style presentation held at Arlington Economic Development.

“Our job as judges was difficult, as we received a number of incredible applications and innovative approaches. We made sure to focus on companies and technologies that would directly impact the health, connectivity, and needs of low-income senior citizens,” explained judge, Peter Kant, Culpepper Garden Board Member and a technology company executive.

The three awardees are:

INF Robotics — RUDY™ is a fully autonomous interactive robot that directly interacts with senior citizens to improve mobility, engagement and health.

Luna Lights — Provides innovative fall prevention and lighting technology helping prevent falls and quickly alert care givers when users need assistance.

Viva Vita — Brings virtual reality experiences to retirement communities for engaging experiences that promote brain health and community fellowship in a convenient and affordable service package.

The three awardees were selected from seven finalists that made it through the initial application evaluations. A homegrown Arlington company, Zansors, whose product allows seniors to easily monitor breathing patterns, was included amongst the finalists.

Awardees will each receive $12,000 in grant funding and will be implementing pilot programs at Culpepper Garden starting in 2020. Culpepper Garden will be evaluating the impact of these pilot programs and reporting to Arlington.

Startup Monday: Should Local Startups Take Bigger Swings?

By ARLnow.com

Editor’s Note: Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) Startups in Arlington and the D.C. area need to take “bigger swings” if the region hopes to become a tech hub like Silicon Valley.

That’s the message from a panel discussion hosted by DCA Live earlier this month at Marymount University in Ballston.

At the Big DCA Growth Summit, panels of investors, founders, academics and other innovators reflected on Arlington’s big Amazon HQ2 win and what might be ahead for the area.

Amazon’s presence, with its forthcoming office campus in Pentagon City and some 25,000 planned jobs, will help bring excitement and more business diversity to a local tech scene that’s heavy on government contractors and cybersecurity firms.

“I’m honestly convinced that Jeff Bezos was looking for a place that had less hype around it,” said Mark Walsh, a local angel investor. “D.C. is begging for more attention for the good stuff it does outside of the government.”

If Amazon could bring with it more of a West Coast tech mindset, panelists said, it could help the D.C. area better compete with Silicon Valley’s tech ecosystem and generate more billion-dollar “unicorns.” More big startup investment wins would, in turn, help fuel investments in more startups — a virtuous cycle.

“Too many companies in the Mid-Atlantic — the exits were good but only a couple hundred million dollars,” said Scott Frederick of Rosslyn-based Sands Capital. “We need to take bigger swings and get more billion dollar companies like Cvent and EVERFI. Entrepreneurs in this region should think bigger. In the Valley they go to restaurants and park next to Bugattis — it’s a different mindset.”

(There’s another argument to be made, however, for not running an otherwise healthy business into the ground in an effort to become a unicorn when it could be a profitable multi-million dollar company.)

Frederick said, as others have noted in the past, that there’s a bit of gap between seed funding for early startups and growth capital for more mature companies. Those seeking Series A and B rounds, between the seed and later rounds, sometimes struggle to find it from investors, hurting the region’s tech ecosystem.

Funding hasn’t been a problem for at least one local startup co-founder, who recently raised $8 million, with more on the way. Eman Pahlevani, co-founder of Rosslyn-based catering marketplace Hungry, said that the affluent D.C. area is particularly good for those seeking early funding from angel investors.

“D.C. has one of the most robust angel communities. You can raise money fairly quickly in D.C. just by having relationships with angels,” said Pahlevani, who was also a cofounder of Livesafe. “If you’re successful here, word spreads quickly. It’s easier and quicker to raise money here than on the West Coast, and I’ve done both. I just think the opportunities here are immense.”

Another local asset: lots of people who are in a position to help local startups.

“Entrepreneurship is a contact sport,” said France Hoang, co-founder of Tysons-based BoodleAI. “As in, [personal] contacts. This is where my network was.”

Hoang said a key to bigger startup exits is finding fearless startup founders who can take risks and handle the dark “WFIO” moments that many startups experience — as in, “we’re f–ked, it’s over.” Pahlevani agreed.

“We’ve had our WFIO moments,” said Pahlevani, who added that part of startup success is in motivating one’s team and not lamenting the challenges. “There’s a lot of time spent building internal momentum, celebrating the smallest wins and building team momentum. Everyone working with you needs to believe it’s going to happen. Get your rocketship going. Get everyone on board.”

(more…)

Could Amazon and JBG Smith Light the Way for the Future of Arlington’s Dark Fiber Network?

By Airey

Amazon and JBG Smith could one day brush off the dust on Arlington’s long-underused dark fiber network.

The Arlington County Board was scheduled to vote on issuing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for the tech giant and developer to discuss the “ConnectArtlington” network during its meeting this Saturday, November 16.

The network currently provides internet service to many county buildings, but was once promised to be a way for local businesses and organizations to also access access high-speed internet at faster speeds and cheaper rates than available from larger commercial providers like Verizon.

“The purpose of this item is to discuss the County’s Fiber Optic Network ‘ConnectArlington’,” said Jack Belcher, the county’s chief information officer, when asked for more information about the County Board item.

“An NDA is necessary as the fiber network and its location is considered critical infrastructure of the County,” he added.

Arlington previously spent $4.1 million building the 10-mile underground cable network. But in February, an ARLnow investigation revealed that almost no businesses were able to license the network due to “flawed” legal requirements.

A spokeswoman for Amazon told ARLnow that the county had included the dark fiber network in its pitch for the company’s second headquarters, and that the upcoming County Board vote was “just part of exploring everything that Arlington had included in the original proposal.”

https://twitter.com/alongthepike/status/1193298737013153793?s=20

“We don’t have specifics to share about our ongoing discussions but look forward to learning more about the program,” the company spokeswoman told ARLnow, adding that the NDA will allow the county to “fully brief” Amazon about the capabilities of the network.

However, the exact details for how Amazon and JBG Smith could use the network are murky.

County staffers removed the Amazon item from the agenda after ARLnow called company and county officials for comment yesterday (Tuesday), keeping JBG Smith’s NDA consideration in the agenda document.

“Agenda Item #18 was removed because the County wasn’t able to get feedback yet from the company,” said county spokeswoman Jennifer Smith.

JBG Smith declined to comment when asked for more information about the company’s interest in the network.

And as of today (Wednesday) at 12:30 p.m., the agenda included no staff reports to the Board with more information about the items. Smith said the documents had not been uploaded due to a “technical issue” and were due to be published later today.

As for other organizations looking to “light” the dark fiber network?

“Parties are able to use the fiber network and we are in negotiations with several entities today to also use it,” Belcher said.

Aboveground, Arlington has also approved a proposal for a faster, more advanced 5G cellular network.

Nearby, Alexandria is putting out a bid to build its own dark fiber network as well.

What’s Next: Our Bus System Must Change

By ARLnow.com

What’s Next with Nicole is a weekly opinion column. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organizations or ARLnow.

As technology changes, we must reframe our mindset on public transportation, specifically our bus systems.

Metro and ART Bus ridership have continued to decrease annually while the use of rideshare and mobility services such as Uber, Lyft, and Bird scooters have skyrocketed.

This year, D.C. area rideshare revenue is estimated to be double that of Metro. Projected operational revenue for Metro in 2019 is projected to be about $830 million while the American Community Survey estimates that rideshare revenues in the Washington D.C. area will be about $1.5 billion.

I would estimate that this discrepancy is linked to a simple cost-benefit analysis for commuters. Think about it. You have two options for getting to work in the morning:

Option 1: You leave your home, walk/drive/bus/bike to the nearest metro station, hop on a train, switch lines if you have to, and then walk/drive/bus/bike the last mile to work. The minimum fare is $2.25 for the train during peak hours (not including an extra $2 if you take the bus to the station)

Option 2: You order an Uber Pool or Lyft Line which arrives right outside your home, the driver picks up one or two passengers along the route, and then drops you off right in front of your office door. Many times the cost of these ridesharing services are competitively priced as compared to Metro at around $7 and will continue to go down, especially with the advent of autonomous driving technology.

Instead of competing with these ridesharing services, Metro needs to partner with them. Contracting with ridesharing companies is already a reality in cities across the country, even just across the river in D.C. In the NE and NW parts of the city, D.C. is testing DC MicroTransit to offer free rideshare through a public-private-partnership with the rideshare app, Via. In other areas of the country, cities have piloted rideshare programs for seniors aging in place, rail users needing a lift for “the last mile,” and more.

At a minimum, Arlington should require companies like Uber and Lyft to share their metadata on rider’s routes to identify hot spots. This would allow us to understand more clearly where people are going to and from and where there is demand for transit in order to optimize our service routes.

When looking into the not so distant future, we know that autonomous vehicles are coming and must be considered for long term planning. Almost all ART bus operational costs are inflated by labor costs (80%) which will only exacerbate the fight with autonomous ridesharing services in the future. Olli, a company that operates autonomous 3D-printed buses, is already in service on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington. Olli is merely the first generation of autonomous bussing technology and at a cost of $100,000, is less than half the cost of Arlington County’s minibuses.

As we contemplate improvements to bus service along Columbia Pike and Route 1, the most heavily used bus service areas in Virginia, we must make sure costly long term infrastructure improvements consider very near term technology changes. Arlington has been at the forefront of transportation innovation and as our public transit system continues to decrease in both ridership and revenue, it is time to shift the paradigm on how to invest in our future.

Nicole Merlene is an Arlington native and former candidate for Virginia State Senate. She has served as a leader in the community on the boards of the Arlington County Civic Federation and North Rosslyn Civic Association, as an Arlington Economic Development commissioner, in neighborhood transportation planning groups, and as a civic liaison to the Rosslyn Business Improvement District.

Do This One Thing First to Stay Safe Online

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

Anytime you’re online, you’re at risk for a cybercrime.

Whether checking email on a home computer or updating social media on a mobile phone, we are all targets for the growing number of sophisticated tactics designed to trick us and gain access to our personal information.

October is National Cyber Security Awareness month and a great time to learn how to better protect ourselves online. If you’re busy (like most Arlingtonians) you don’t have time to research every way to safeguard yourself online. Knowing this, I want to share one impactful step you can take this month to make a difference: 2-Factor Authentication (2FA).

You probably already use 2FA when banking online. If you’re not familiar with 2FA, I find it helpful to think of it like the lock on your front door. Standard usernames and passwords are like a lock and key. If a hacker has access to both, they can login to your accounts. Using 2FA is like adding a PIN pad to your front door.

In addition to the lock and the key, a hacker would also need your PIN code to open the door. That extra layer of security makes it just a bit harder to access your information — and most criminals will move on to easier targets.

What many people don’t realize is that 2FA can be used on all kinds of websites. Beyond banking, many email providers, shopping sites and delivery services support 2FA. If you do one thing this month to enhance your cyber safety, visit a resource like www.twofactorauth.org, find the most common sites you use, and take a few minutes to enroll yourself.

Richard Archambault is the Division Chief for Information Security, Privacy and Regulatory Affairs for Arlington County Government’s Department of Technology Services.

Arlington is consistently ranked one the nation’s Top Digital Counties. You can learn more about their efforts here.

Cybersecurity Startup Moves Up to Bigger Office in Courthouse

By Vernon Miles

Startup Monday header

Editor’s Note: Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.

DivvyCloud, an Arlington startup specializing in cloud-based cybersecurity, is planning to more than double in size with a move into a new much larger new headquarters in Courthouse.

It’s is far from the only cybersecurity company working in Arlington, but DivvyCloud carved out a niche as a cloud-focused security option that not only fixes gaps in security coverage but makes it easier for a company to see where its security is weakest.

Today (Monday) the company moved into a new 13,000 square foot office at 2111 Wilson Blvd, an office over six-times larger than its old 2,000 square foot office in Rosslyn. In a press release, CEO and co-founder Brian Johnson said the office expansion is a result of adding new employees, with more expected down the road.

“[Since 2018] the company has grown from 20 to 55 local employees — an increase of 175 percent — and plans to reach at least 120 employees within the next year,” Johnson said.

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The company has netted some sizable investments over the last year, along with new contracts with customers from Pizza Hut to Fannie Mae. In an email to ARLnow, Johnson said the expansion is justified by an increasing need in cloud-based coverage — particularly in light of recent major data breaches.

“In our recent report, we found that 77% percent of respondents reported having two or more clouds, yet less than half of respondents were able to accurately identify the risk of misconfiguration in public cloud as higher than the risk in traditional IT environments,” Johnson said. “Countless major data breaches, including Honda and Capital One, have been caused by misconfigurations just in 2019 alone. As a result, more and more companies are realizing the need for an effective solution to prevent misconfigurations and properly secure cloud and container infrastructure.”

Biz Talk: Innovations in Healthy Aging Challenge

By ARLnow.com Sponsor

This article was sponsored by Arlington Economic Development‘s Business Investment Group.

The marketplace for technology to assist aging adults is expected to grow to nearly $30 billion in the next few years, according to Arlington’s own Consumer Technology Association.

Seniors and their families and caregivers are eager to acquire new tech-enabled products and services that would provide better care and improve the quality of their loved ones’ lives. Hence, entrepreneurs, innovators and technologists are increasingly focused on the growth opportunities in serving older adults.

To address this issue, Culpepper Garden and Arlington County are hosting a unique competition to identify and provide funding and pilot program opportunities for innovative companies and technologies focused on helping improve the lives of low-income seniors. This competition is open to companies and individuals from early seed stage to established corporations from around the world.

Judges are looking for products and ideas that are helping older adults leverage technology to stay healthy, improve their mobility and better connect to their family and community. Companies selected to pitch will receive valuable feedback from older adults, health care providers, businesses and government officials. The three winning companies will have the opportunity to trial their product or service at a residential community in Arlington.

Culpepper Garden and its nonprofit owner, the Arlington Retirement Housing Corporation, are celebrating 50 years as an award-winning residential community that was one of the nation’s first to serve the needs of low-income seniors as they age in place. Culpepper Garden is home to over 340 residents and is located on North Pershing Drive.

Participants have the opportunity to:

  • Win $12,000 in funding for each of the top three winners
  • Pilot their technology or approach at Culpepper Garden and a formal evaluation to provide to future customers
  • Become a leader in social impact technology benefitting low income seniors
  • Build relationships with competition judges including venture capitalists, medical professionals, company CEOs and government officials
  • Receive mentoring, feedback and advice from health care providers, senior and assisted living experts, older adults and other stakeholders
  • Solicit customer testimonials
  • Receive recognition and publicity about their company and technologies

To learn more and apply, visit Culpepper Garden’s website.

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