Pentagon Veteran Michael Brown Joins Early-Stage Venture Firm Shield Capital

Michael Brown, who led the Silicon Valley outpost of the Pentagon, has left the Defense Department to join early-stage venture firm Shield Capital as it seeks to back new defense technologies amid rising global tensions. Mr. Brown has joined a group of military veterans turned venture capitalists, the San Francisco-based firm said Tuesday, where he will invest in startups building technology for the future of warfare and geopolitical conflict. He was director of the Defense Innovation Unit, a branch of the Pentagon that aims to identify and accelerate the adoption of technologies built in Silicon Valley that would enhance the military's capabilities. During his four years leading the DIU, Mr. Brown said he worked to ease the historically cumbersome process startups faced in getting a contract to sell to the military. The Defense Department struck deals to adopt 50 new technology capabilities during his time there, he said.