Still, she sees projects like In-Q-Tel's as confirmation that virtual worlds have value for serious organizations.
Companies coming up with better ways to use and monitor the Internet have attracted In-Q-Tel money.
Several companies focusing on geospatial technology are in the In-Q-Tel portfolio, including Image Tree Corp.
In-Q-Tel invests in startups developing technologies that could prove useful to the CIA and the national security community.
As one would expect from a spy support firm, In-Q-Tel is very interested in companies that make better cameras.
In general, In-Q-Tel funds projects that have both private sector and government applications.
In 2007 In-Q-Tel plugged into AdaptivEnergy, a company that develops products that harvest energy from impulse shocks, vibrations, and even footfalls.
In-Q-Tel has some fun investments, like Destineer Studios, an outfit that develops military-themed videogames as well as training simulations for active-duty soldiers.
In-Q-Tel invites startups to submit applications for funding through its website, asking for their business plan, a technology whitepaper and leadership list.
A. created a venture capital arm ten years back, called In-Q-Tel.
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In 2001, the venture-capital arm of the Central Intelligence Agency, In-Q-Tel Inc.
In-Q-Tel issues a press release every time it funds a new company, but it discloses neither the amount of the investment nor the product it's focused on.
In-Q-Tel wouldn't reveal which, if any, of the U.S.'s 16 intelligence agencies had expressed interest in assembling the virtual world or how much the project would cost.
In-Q-Tel has also invested in GainSpan, a company finding ways to make everything wi-fi-enabled, from refrigerators to health monitoring devices, for richer information on something than just its location.
However, entrepreneurs generally welcome interest from In-Q-Tel, says Basis Technology CEO Carl Hoffman, because it's a gateway to Washington for small companies that normally struggle to compete for federal contracts.
Josh Lerner, an investment banking professor at Harvard Business School, says that the liquidity crisis in venture capital has made venture firms eager to draw In-Q-Tel in as a partner.
Donald Tighe, an In-Q-Tel spokesman, wouldn't confirm whether the project was ultimately planned for government or private sector use, but he hinted that a simple conference room may be just the beginning.
Visible Technologies, FMS and StreamBase, all companies that provide products that analyze the massive amount of data flowing out of social networking and communication sites, all found spots in the In-Q-Tel portfolio.
In a press release issued last month about the investment, William Strecker, In-Q-Tel's chief technology officer, said the intelligence community is looking for new ways to secure information given the increasing ubiquity of cloud computing.
Unlike the expansive microcosms of Linden Lab's "Second Life" or Vivendi's "World of Warcraft, " In-Q-Tel's digital environment will likely be a single room, designed to function as a virtual meeting place for U.S. intelligence agencies, according to a Forterra spokesman.
The espionage potential of many of the technologies in the In-Q-Tel portfolio are immediately apparent, but there are some surprises, like Sonitus Medical, which makes hearing aids that fit over the teeth and send sounds directly to the inner ear.
In-Q-Tel is a rather secretive group.
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An investment from In-Q-Tel led Hoffman's company, which makes software that analyzes foreign-language texts, to expand to Middle Eastern languages, and it now does business with a variety of federal agencies, including the NSA. He says that IQT is also well regarded in Silicon Valley because of its successful investing track record.
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