ARLINGTON, Va. & PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Private equity firm LLR Partners today announced the addition of Ira A. (Gus) Hunt, former Chief Technology Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as an operating partner. In this role, Gus will help LLR evaluate new investment opportunities in the Security, Defense & Government Services sectors, as well as support the growth of LLR's existing portfolio companies.
“Gus transformed the intelligence community's use of technology. He was the first to understand the value that commercial innovations could bring to the U.S. government and led the adoption of game-changing technologies at the CIA, including the switch to cloud-based infrastructure,” said Jason Rigoli, principal at LLR Partners. “Gus’ domain knowledge and relationships both inside and out of the government community will bring tremendous value to LLR's Security, Defense & Government Services portfolio.”
LLR recently opened an office in Arlington, VA, and hired two industry veterans, Jason Rigoli and Michael Levenberg, to expand its Security, Defense & Government Services practice. The firm invests growth capital in technology and service businesses between $25 and $250 million in annual revenue, including those that serve commercial and government clients in the physical and cyber security markets, as well as government contractors to the U.S. homeland security, defense, intelligence and healthcare agencies.
“Joining LLR as an operating partner is an ideal next step after my retirement from the CIA,” said Hunt. “I’ve followed technology and investing trends for more than 20 years, seeking ways to meet our government’s objectives through the latest commercial technologies. This relationship with LLR will give me the chance to directly advise growth-oriented businesses as they look to expand in both the commercial and government markets.”
As Chief Technology Officer for the Chief Information Officer at the CIA, Gus was responsible for setting the strategic technology direction to enable CIA’s missions, driving the rapid insertion and adoption of new capabilities to keep pace with technology change in the commercial sector, and actively engaging across the IC to share and communicate IT solutions.
Previously, Gus served as the Director of Applications Services for CIA, charged with building IT systems to support and enable effective execution of CIA’s missions and business. Gus also set the vision and direction for applications development at CIA: driving the investment and development process to build core and common services; constructing the enterprise data layer; bringing in training and coaching to drive rapid adoption and effective use of Agile Development within Applications Services; and implementing earned value-management and total-cost-of-ownership business processes to dramatically improve management decision effectiveness.
Before joining the CIA in 1985, Gus spent seven years in the private sector as an aerospace engineer designing advanced manned space flight systems and satellite orbital transfer vehicles. He holds an M.E. in Civil/Structural Engineering from Vanderbilt University.
About LLR Partners
LLR Partners invests in middle market growth companies with proven business models in a broad range of industries, including business services, consumer and education, financial services, government services, healthcare services and software and IT services. With more than $2.4 billion under management, LLR provides capital for growth, recapitalizations and buyouts. For more information about LLR, visit www.llrpartners.com.
