Backing engineers on a mission








[ modernizing the industrial base ]


ABOUT FDVC

Mark Scianna is the Managing Partner at Forward Deployed VC, supporting mission-driven engineers modernizing digital and physical infrastructure.


As an operator, most of his experience was at Palantir, where he was a founding member of their defense team, spending 11 years as a forward deployed engineer. In that role, he deployed extensively with US and allied forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, Horn of Africa, and beyond. When not deployed, he was responsible for development of Forward (basis for an 800M Army contract), Mobile (used by federal law enforcement), and Project Maven (advanced AI). Mark’s team not only developed life saving products, but also built an incredibly valuable business: revenue grew from zero to billions, and the company went public in 2020.

As a venture investor, he got started in 2010 by participating in Palantir’s Series D round, becoming the only employee to purchase preferred shares. In 2014 he began investing via Y Combinator Demo Days, and in 2018 completed their Startup Investor program.


Track record:  49 investments (2010-2021), 5.2x multiple, 43% IRR

PORTFOLIO

Companies We Support

Abatable

Carbon Offset Procurement

Adyton

Mobile Defense Tech

AmpUp

EV Charger Management

Biobot

Wastewater Epidemiology

GBatteries

Ultra-fast
Battery Charging

Govly

Government Contracting

Lumineye

Wall-penetrating Radar

Lyft

Transportation & Delivery
(IPO)

Oklo

Nuclear
Micro-Reactors

Paladin Drones

Live Video for
First Responders

Palantir

Data Insights for Operators
(IPO)

PropelAuth

User Authentication

Rome

Freight Marketplace
for Truckers

Sixfold Bio

Targeted RNA
Therapies

Statuspage

Status & Incident Communication
(Acquired)

Zensors

AI for Operations
and Customer Service