SRA Ventures Launches First Commercial IT Company

Just a month into their joint venture partnership, SRA International Inc. and Safeguard Scientific Inc. have begun spinning off commercially focused IT companies.

On June 4, SRA, a privately held government systems integrator in Fairfax, Va., launched Mantas Inc., a data mining company that will serve the financial services market.


The launch is the first as part of an alliance SRA formed April 30 with Safeguard Scientific, a publicly held company in Wayne, Pa. Safeguard invests in, launches and helps manage a variety of technology companies.

Other new companies based on technology SRA has developed for government and commercial customers are in the works, said Barry Landew, president of SRA Ventures LLC, the joint venture SRA formed with Safeguard to identify and spin off new companies.

Mantas' capabilities were developed from work SRA began for the National Association of Securities Dealers in the mid-1990s monitoring stock trading. Mantas will be taking those capabilities to banks, investment houses and other financial institutions, Landew said.

Mantas is expected to do about $20 million in its first year and, in addition to NASD, already has customers such as Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo, said Richard Spires, Mantas president. Mantas will provide services such as fraud detection, anti-money laundering services and trade compliance.

Being an independent company allows Mantas to attract investments that would not be available if it remained part of SRA, he said.

"This doesn't fit SRA's business model," he said. "That's why we are pursuing it with Safeguard."

SRA retains a significant stake in Mantas, but company officials declined to describe the ownership structure. The amount of Safeguard's investment also was not disclosed.

This is not the first time SRA has spun off an internal unit into an independent company. In 1992, SRA formed Navisoft Inc., which developed Web publishing tools. America Online later bought the company.

In 1996, SRA formed Mail2000, a mail management applications company, with a $1 million investment. It was sold this spring for $95 million to United Postal Service.

SRA President Ernest Volgenau said he wants to spin out about three companies a year.