WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 10, 2025--
IronGate Capital Advisors, one of the country’s most active defense tech venture capital firms, announced last week that its investment portfolio has grown to over 540 companies across its two funds, ranging from seed stage start-ups to later-stage growth equity companies. Since its founding in 2018, IronGate Capital Advisors has sought to be the most collaborative partner in the defense tech ecosystem by co-investing with many of the leading investors in this space.
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Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Christopher C. Miller and Ryan Morfin, Managing Director of IronGate, engage in a fireside chat on the future of the national security landscape and the role of private innovation.
The Honorable Tidal McCoy delivers opening remarks.
IronGate Capital Advisors, in collaboration with Stellar Ventures, hosted the 2025 Strength Through Innovation Summit along with their participating sponsors.
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IronGate Capital Advisors announced this portfolio milestone at their “Strength Through Innovation Summit,” hosted in collaboration with frequent co-investment partner and fellow defense tech VC firm Stellar Ventures, in Washington, DC. Other major announcements from portfolio companies presenting at the event included:
The two-day, invite-only, sold out summit brought together top officials from the defense, intelligence, and space communities, as well as private sector innovators and investors. The annual event focuses on the critical challenges and investment opportunities facing the national security landscape. This year the conference was co-sponsored by 15 different companies led by: Albers Aerospace, AWS, Cooley, Delta Black, Stifel and Victory6.
"We are in a tech arms race where speed, innovation, and capital allocation are decisive," said Ryan Morfin, Founding Partner at IronGate Capital Advisors. "Venture capital must be more than just a source of funding; we must be strategic partners to both our portfolio companies and the government, helping them navigate the complex federal landscape to deliver solutions at the speed of relevance."
Similar to IronGate Capital Advisors’ “Founders Summit” hosted in conjunction with ARLIS at the University of Maryland earlier this year, the “Strength Through Innovation Summit” discussed strategies to achieve scale and catalyze corporate growth while providing cutting-edge defense innovation and executing on the Reindustrialization of American manufacturing.
Fireside chats and panel discussions were led by a distinguished roster of speakers, including:
"Stellar Ventures is proud to have added space as a central theme of the Strength Through Innovation Summit. By uniting government leaders, prime contractors, and entrepreneurs building the next generation of companies and capabilities, we fostered conversations needed to accelerate America’s most critical technologies," said Celeste Ford, Managing Director at Stellar Ventures, Board Chair and Founder of Stellar Solutions Inc.
About IronGate Capital Advisors: IronGate Capital Advisors is an early-stage venture capital investment firm focused on dual-use national security technologies. The firm's mission is to direct capital to the highest-performing ventures in the advanced technology arena, with a specific focus on innovations in aerospace, defense, and intelligence, and national security. IronGate's investment approach enables it to deploy capital into companies developing technologies that meet the most demanding national security requirements and strengthen the United States. More information can be found on our website at www.irongatevc.com.
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Christopher C. Miller and Ryan Morfin, Managing Director of IronGate, engage in a fireside chat on the future of the national security landscape and the role of private innovation.
The Honorable Tidal McCoy delivers opening remarks.
IronGate Capital Advisors, in collaboration with Stellar Ventures, hosted the 2025 Strength Through Innovation Summit along with their participating sponsors.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.
The president's threat comes a day after a federal immigration officer shot and wounded a Minneapolis man who had attacked the officer with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger radiating across the Minnesota city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a Renee Good in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
Presidents have indeed invoked the Insurrection Act more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.
The Associated Press has reached out to the offices of Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for comment.
The Department of Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down. ICE is a DHS agency.
In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara said during a news conference that the gathering was an unlawful assembly and “people need to leave.”
Things later quietened down and by early Thursday only a few demonstrators and law enforcement officers remained at the scene.
Demonstrations have become common on the streets of Minneapolis since the ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Good on Jan. 7. Agents have yanked people from their cars and homes, and have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding that the officers pack up and leave.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” Frey, the mayor, said.
Frey said the federal force — five times the size of the city’s 600-officer police force — has “invaded” Minneapolis, scaring and angering residents.
In a statement describing the events that led to Wednesday's shooting, Homeland Security said federal law enforcement officers stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove away and crashed into a parked car before taking off on foot, DHS said.
After officers reached the person, two other people arrived from a nearby apartment and all three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said.
The two people who came out of the apartment are in custody, it said.
O’Hara said the man shot was in the hospital with a non-life-threatening injury.
The shooting took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) north of where Good was killed. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security.
During a speech before the latest shooting, Walz described Minnesota as being in chaos, saying what's happening in the state “defies belief.”
“Let’s be very, very clear, this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.
The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the extent of the bleeding, exactly how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.
Good was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street a few blocks from her home.
Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been criticized by Minnesota officials.
Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment.
Good’s family has hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground in the street in May 2020.
Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Julie Watson in San Diego; Rebecca Santana in Washington; Ed White in Detroit and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed.
A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
