Name: I2S Inc.
Location: Columbia. The company has a satellite office in McLean.
Funding: The company raised $2 million in venture funding from the Grosvenor Funds.
Big idea: I2S works with defense contractors and the intelligence community in intelligence analysis, enterprise architecture for end-to-end systems, knowledge management and systems engineering. The company is primarily a subcontractor but is gearing up to work directly with the government.
Where the idea was hatched: Randall J. Meyers, president and chief executive, is a former Secret Service officer and 23-year veteran of the intelligence community. He decided to launch his business after working for a number of intelligence agencies. With his past experience and his contacts, Meyers said: "We offered investors a unique opportunity to enter a market space that has high barriers to entry."
Big-name customers: Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp.
Price: Projects range from as small as $1 million to as big as $10 million, Meyers said. He hopes to double the company's $20 million sales backlog in the next six months.
Founded: 2004
Who's in charge: Meyers; Gary Michael Allen, vice president; Tony Gigioli, vice president; Kathleen Lally, chief operating officer; Richard Blackmon, director for Virginia operations.
Employees: I2S currently has 70 employees and 100 job openings.
Web site: http://www.i2spros.com
What the name means: "I2S stands for ideas to solutions," Meyers said.
Quote: "There's a company called SI International that started seven years ago with private equity funding. They've grown in seven years from a firm with virtually no contracts and no employees to over 3,700 employees. I like their model and I'm hoping in some way to mimic that model, probably on a smaller scale. I hope we can grow to 1,000 people in a five-year time frame. That would be my dream."
-- Andrea Caumont
