Enlightenment Capital backs 'Battlefield of Things' company

Government market investment firm Enlightenment Capital has entered a new partnership with Fenix Group, a technology integrator focused on private broadband networks and handheld communication devices.

Chantilly, Virginia-headquartered Fenix will use the added financial resources from Enlightenment to support growth through both organic means and acquisitions. Terms of the investment announced Monday were undisclosed.

Fenix started in 2016 to help create what it calls the “Battlefield of Things” sensor ecosystem to connect unmanned systems, ground sensors and commercial end-user devices into an edge network.

Led by founder and CEO Dave Peterson, Fenix designs its offerings to give users in the defense, intelligence and special operations communities more of a chance to avoid being intercepted or detected.

"This partnership greatly enhances our ability to drive growth through expansion of our facility footprints in multiple states and allows us to refine our engineering process and manufacturing capacity to scale with demand,” Peterson said in a release.

“Fenix supports some of the most cutting-edge electronics solutions being implemented on the tactical edge of the DOD and intelligence communities,” added Jason Rigoli, a partner at Enlightenment Capital. “The solutions span 5G, LTE, and other mobile communications technologies from domestic to austere environments. We are excited to invest in their vision of pushing the boundaries of interconnected defense and intelligence systems in use around the world.”

In addition to its prime contracts, Fenix touts being a subcontractor to several other larger partners for providing military-grade mobile products and infrastructure with 5G functionality and capability to U.S. military bases.