Defense venture capitalists eager to gain access to power are hosting fundraising events and conferences at the Winter White House. If we’re lucky, the next president himself will stop by.
David Jeans, Forbes Staff
On a recent evening, defense technology investor Neil Keegan held a pitch meeting to explain how his company, Marlinspike Partners, plans to become a leading backer of startups that make weapons for the U.S. military. We gathered limited partners to find out. The cocktail and presentation event was mostly a paint-by-numbers affair.
What was unusual was that the location was President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. Once a destination for extravagant weddings and galas, but now a hotbed of politics, the property’s apparent proximity to the president-elect could lead to increased fundraising efforts or someone else’s It has become a favorite destination for venture capital funds hoping to lead to a serendipitous encounter. Someone who has ears. “The energy that Mar-a-Lago and the new administration represents is that change is coming and change is needed,” Keegan told Forbes, adding that he met Trump while at the club. added. “When he left, I stood up and said, ‘Good luck,'” Keegan explained. “He looked straight at me, gave me his famous point, and said, ‘Thank you.’
President Trump’s so-called “Winter White House” in Palm Beach, Florida, is the epicenter of the presidential transition, drawing business tycoons, foreign leaders and politicians alike. Silicon Valley leaders who have made the pilgrimage to dine with Trump include Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook (all of whom have donated to Trump’s inaugural committee). There was also a conga line. Other tech billionaires, such as Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen, have taken more permanent positions at the club, helping with the Office of Government Efficiency’s proposals and recruiting efforts for the incoming administration.
But in this club, a whirlwind of billionaires and powerful people shaping America’s future hope to raise more than $100 million to invest in weapons technology and help their portfolio companies secure government contracts. Small and medium-sized businesses like Marlinspike, which is currently in business, have limited access to the gilded event space. It was surprisingly simple and helped demonstrate the president-elect’s extraordinary closeness with his inner circle. (Trump’s transition team did not respond to requests for comment.)
Mar-a-Lago is “where everyone is now.”
Philip Scully, Balerion Space Ventures
Type One Ventures, a company that has raised more than $100 million and backs companies aiming to contribute to “interplanetary civilization,” last month focused on promoting investment in space and AI companies, according to Pitchbook. A luncheon was held for the winners. Along with co-host 1789 Capital (which recently hired Donald Trump Jr. as a partner), members of Trump’s inner circle met with guests. They include tech billionaire David Sachs, the next AI and cryptocurrency czar, and Palantir adviser Jacob Helberg, who is set to become deputy secretary. For economic growth, energy and the environment. (Through spokesperson Marcy Simon, Type 1 Managing Partner Tarek Waked declined to comment. 1789 did not respond.)
And this week, another company, Valerion Space Ventures, announced the signing of Tom Mueller, Elon Musk’s first employee at SpaceX, and Hamdullah Mohib, a former Afghan ambassador to the United States who now runs a space company. will hold a one-day defense technology summit headlined by United Arab Emirates. Co-founder Philip Scully, who has raised $60 million in two funds and is currently raising money for Valerion’s third fund, said he expects potential administration officials to drop by. He said he expected it. “We are in a golden age of hardware investing,” he said. Mar-a-Lago is “where everyone is now.”
Marlinspike CEO Keegan is a U.S. Navy veteran and investor who launched his company’s first fund in 2022, investing in defense unicorns such as weapons maker Anduril, drone maker Shield AI, and SpaceX. I have been supporting. Last week’s event drew about 60 people under the tea room’s heavy gold curtains and crystal chandeliers. With Carla Sands, former Trump administration ambassador to Denmark, family offices, institutional investors, and U.S. military veterans in attendance, Keegan emphasized the organization’s closeness to history. Mr. Trump was said to have been at the venue vetting possible Cabinet nominees a few weeks ago. Later, at a dinner in Palm Beach, one of the attendees posted on LinkedIn that Donald Trump Jr. had just returned from a widely publicized trip to Greenland and was eating at a nearby table. . “You can feel the momentum,” Keegan told those gathered.
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In an interview with Forbes, he made it clear that Marlinspike, whose partners include former CIA officials, is a “firmly apolitical company,” but that the incident “has some connection to the administration.” It may have been a subconscious thing,” he admitted.
This is a departure from the past, when Marlinspike avoided hosting events at Mar-a-Lago thanks to limited partners who are club members, he said. “I didn’t want to upset half the world of potential limited partners,” he said. But since Trump was elected, the company’s supporters have been “very positive about the incoming administration,” he said.
After President Trump bought Mar-a-Lago in the 1980s, the private club was frowned upon by Palm Beach’s raucous crowd for its brashness. But since President Trump’s first term, attending the venue has become a back door to the nation’s highest office. And Trump himself attended several investor events. A few weeks after the election, President Trump stopped by Azoria Capital’s Mar-a-Lago event to announce the fund, CEO James Fishback told Forbes. “There’s been no question in recent months that this is the center of the universe. I’ve talked to Elon, RFK, and Trump himself many times,” Fischbach said. “People now have access to important conversations with the president, which means he can get to work on day one.”
Perhaps most impressive is the ease and speed with which these companies host events. With Mar-a-Lago members sponsoring the gathering (initiation fees for new members can exceed $1 million), the Balerion and Marlinspike event was planned in a matter of weeks. “I love it. This is America. We’re a capitalist country,” Keegan said. “This is all about business.”
Participants at the Balerion event this week include companies such as Radiant, which makes portable nuclear reactors, and Space Nux, a company that aims to deploy nuclear fission energy into space, Scully said. He plans to meet and interact with government officials from the U.S. Space Force and NASA. Not to mention, the possibility of encountering members of Trump’s inner circle, such as Musk, is also beneficial. “If Elon can come because he thinks it’s interesting, that’s very convenient for him,” he said.
It’s unclear whether Mar-a-Lago will maintain the same appeal after President Trump takes office and moves to Washington, D.C., next week. “Now is the time to seize this moment. We don’t know if it will be great or grand after January 20th,” Keegan said. “I mean, this guy has basically been running the country from Mar-a-Lago ever since he was elected.”
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