Certus Core, a veteran-founded Tampa startup, has secured a $1.25 million contract with AFWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Air Force.
The funding will support the deployment of Certus Core’s Semantic Knowledge Graph software to address critical data integration and analysis challenges within the Department of the Air Force.
Certus Core CEO Jake Dyal said the move will be a "massive force multiplier."
“We will be delivering massive capabilities through the value of sKG and data integration relevant to their Vendor Threat Mitigation problem, a major challenge across the national security space,” Dyal said in a statement. “A major win for our U.S. Air Force customer is in their ability to ask prompt-based questions within our data consumer platform while continuing to use the analytic tools the Air Force has already invested resources.”
Founded in 2021, the startup specializes in advanced data engineering solutions and aims to continue addressing data structure and generative artificial intelligence challenges.
“Every member of Certus has experienced data silos and the desire to implement machine learning and AI in both the private and public sectors," VP of Business Development Casey Johnson said in a statement. "But organizations delay solving their data problems and rely on visually appealing graphs and pie charts, which usually tell leadership what they want to hear, not the truth behind their data. That is where Certus Core’s value really comes into play.”
The Air Force began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018, which expanded the range of innovations it funded.
“This is just the beginning. We’ve all been there. We know the difficulties in solving these data engineering challenges and, more importantly, solving data problems for the warfighter, bringing relevant data solutions which sustain the test of time, and preparing organizations for the long game,” Johnson said. “The Air Force’s commitment is readily apparent, and we are excited to continue this work alongside them as their partner.”
