OGSystems partners with General Catalyst to pursue acquisitions and strengthen VIPER Labs

OGSystems announced on May 1 a partnership with General Catalyst Partners that will enable OGSystems to accelerate an innovation engine focused on the creation of agile software and integration solutions across cybersecurity, geospatial, and data science disciplines for the Department of Defense (DoD), Intelligence Community (IC) and commercial clients.

The company also announced the appointment of Tad Elmer, an XIR at General Catalyst and former CEO of BBN Technologies (a long-time innovator in the DoD/IC space), to its board of directors.

“The IC and DoD are ripe for a new platform to deliver rapid innovation. OGS is perfectly positioned to deliver needed solutions quickly and efficiently.”

OGSystems (OGS) was founded in 2004 with the mission to provide technically advanced solutions to customers through a culture of constant innovation, and a vision to effect positive change in every engagement. In an industry that is accustomed to long and inefficient procurement cycles, OGS has been an alternative for DoD and IC clients seeking innovative, nimble companies to solve their most difficult problems, says an OGS press release.

OGS’ growth is driven by a customer centric focus, an ability to grow talented engineers, proven performance across mission critical prime contracts, and a start-up culture that produces ideas and avoids red tape. Coupling mission expertise with the Virtual Integrated Product Engineering Room (VIPER) Labs idea-to-platform innovation center enables immersion engineering solutions that are fit for very unique purposes. VIPER Labs is a key component of OGSystems’ innovation engine, providing a space for staff, clients and partners to collaborate on building next-generation solutions by leveraging the platform’s rapid prototyping and agile development capabilities.

“Our tagline, ‘Own the Outcome,’ is a mental state and mantra for everyone at OGSystems to take responsibility and embrace the risk of new ideas, and it has defined our success in delivering customer innovation,” said Garrett Pagon, co-founder and president of OGSystems.

“VIPER embodies OGS’ culture and mission. It is a playground for creative engineers to explore and define the art of the possible in the areas that matter most to our clients,” said Omar Balkissoon, co-founder and CEO of OGSystems. “Our partnership with General Catalyst will fuel the rapid velocity of that innovation and active, efficient engineering. General Catalyst embraces creativity through disruptive business models and has invested in innovation pioneers like BBN Technologies, all of which are highly relevant to our mission and future growth.”

OGSystems’ investment in emerging talent, technologies and techniques provides a foundation for an entrepreneurial culture that rewards ingenuity and calculated risk taking. Inspiration for project initiatives comes from the company’s customer engagements, mission understanding, design contests, and simple imagination, explains the company. This focus on new thinking, backed by focused investment capital, will further inspire commercially available platform services. OGSystems has a growth rate of over 100% year-over-year since inception and employs over 220 geospatial engineers, software developers, data scientists and analysts, and mission subject matter experts.

“I look forward to collaborating with Omar, Garrett and the OGS team and leveraging my experience at BBN Technologies to create new opportunities for partnership and growth,” said Tad Elmer, an XIR at General Catalyst and board member of OGSystems. “The IC and DoD are ripe for a new platform to deliver rapid innovation. OGS is perfectly positioned to deliver needed solutions quickly and efficiently.”