Power Trip: Military Tech Investors Host Funding Events At Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club

Forbes

Defense venture capitalists eager for proximity to power are hosting funding events and conferences at the winter White House. If they’re lucky, the president-elect himself will stop by.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2025/01/15/military-tech-investors-trump-mar-a-lago/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, military tech investors go looking for a Trump bump at Mar-a-Lago.

00:08On a recent evening, Neil Keegan, a defense tech investor, held a pitch meeting, gathering

00:14limited partners to hear how his firm, Marlinspike Partners, planned to become a leading backer

00:20of startups building weapons to arm the U.S. military.

00:23The event, cocktails and a presentation, was a largely paint-by-numbers affair.

00:29What was unusual was its location, President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago.

00:35The property, once a destination for gaudy weddings and galas, and now a political hotbed,

00:41has become a favored location for venture capital funds, hoping the appearance of proximity

00:45to the incoming president will bolster their fundraising efforts, or result in a chance

00:50meeting with someone who has his ear.

00:53Keegan told Forbes, "...the energy that Mar-a-Lago and the new administration represents

00:58is that change is coming and change is needed."

01:01He added that he had run into Trump while at the club.

01:04He explained, "...when he walked out, I stood up and said, good luck, sir.

01:08He looked right at me and gave me the famous point and said, thank you very much."

01:14Trump's so-called winter White House in Palm Beach, Florida, has been the nerve center

01:18of his presidential transition, drawing business titans, foreign leaders, and politicians alike.

01:24There has also been the conga line of Silicon Valley leaders who have made the pilgrimage

01:28to dine with Trump, including Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, and Tim Cook, all of whom have

01:33donated to Trump's inaugural committee.

01:36Other tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen have taken on more permanent

01:40posts at the club, helping with the proposed Department of Government Efficiency and recruiting

01:45efforts for the incoming administration.

01:48But amid the hurricane of billionaires and powerbrokers shaping America's future at the

01:52club, access to its gilded event spaces for smaller firms like Marlinspike, which is hoping

01:57to raise over $100 million to invest in weapons technology and help portfolio companies secure

02:03government contracts, has been surprisingly easy, and helped project outsized proximity

02:08to the incoming president and his inner circle.

02:11Last month, Type One Ventures, a firm that has raised more than $100 million, according

02:16to PitchBook, and backs companies looking to contribute to, quote, interplanetary civilization,

02:22held a luncheon focused on promoting investments in space and AI companies.

02:26Alongside co-hosts 1789 Capital, which recently hired Donald Trump Jr. as a partner, members

02:32of Trump's inner circle met with guests, including David Sachs, the tech billionaire

02:37and incoming AI and crypto czar, and Jacob Helberg, a Palantir advisor set to become

02:42the undersecretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment.

02:47And this week, another firm, Valerian Space Ventures, is holding a one-day defense tech

02:52summit headlined by Tom Muller, Elon Musk's first employee at SpaceX, and Hamdallah Mohib,

02:59the former Afghanistan ambassador to the U.S., who now runs a space company in the United

03:03Arab Emirates.

03:06Co-founder Philip Scully, who has raised $60 million across two funds and is now raising

03:10for Valerian's third, said he expected potential administration officials to drop by.

03:16He said, quote,

03:17We're entering a period of time where it's the golden era of hardware investing.

03:22He added that Mar-a-Lago, quote, is where everyone is right now.

03:27Marlinspike CEO Keegan, the U.S. Navy veteran and financier, launched the firm's first fund

03:33in 2022 and has backed defense unicorns like weapons manufacturer Anduril, drone maker

03:39Shield AI, and SpaceX.

03:41During the event last week, around 60 people gathered under the tea room's heavy gold drapes

03:46and crystal chandelier.

03:48With Carla Sands, the former Trump administration ambassador to Denmark, plus family offices,

03:53institutional investors, and U.S. veterans in attendance, Keegan underscored the group's

03:58proximity to history.

04:00Trump had vetted his potential cabinet picks in the room weeks earlier.

04:04Later, at a dinner held in Palm Beach, one attendee posted on LinkedIn that Donald Trump

04:09Jr. was dining at a table nearby, having just returned from his widely reported trip to

04:14Greenland.

04:15Keegan told those gathered, quote, you can feel the momentum.

04:20For full coverage, check out David Jeans' piece on Forbes.com.

04:26This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:28Thanks for tuning in.

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