This webinar is a fast, founder- and investor-oriented introduction to how strategic competition, foreign influence, and U.S. government scrutiny increasingly intersect with advanced technology development.
The session places Foreign Ownership, Control, or Influence (FOCI) in its operational context: how states pursue access, how influence is exercised indirectly, and how early signals shape outcomes long before any formal review or enforcement action occurs.
Topics include:
-How foreign state and state-aligned actors engage U.S. innovators today, including current collection trends, indirect access strategies, and soft-power engagement across research, startup, investment, and scaling environments. This includes the periods where vulnerabilities spike.
-How FOCI is interpreted across the U.S. government, where thresholds differ between agencies (DoD, DOE, NIH, NSF, etc.), and how those interpretations continue to evolve.
-What actually draws attention in practice, funding structures, partnerships, personnel, data access, and commercial behavior, often years before companies realize they are being evaluated.
-Practical mitigation options teams can consider if and when FOCI-related issues arise.
The discussion draws on real-world patterns from intelligence collection, influence operations, and technology competition. It’s designed to sharpen judgment, challenge assumptions, and help teams understand the terrain they’re operating in, so innovation can proceed faster and with fewer strategic surprises.
Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
PRESENTER: Cyrus Miryekta, CEO, Ravelin US LLC
DATE: April 16, 2026
TIME: 1-2PM Eastern WEBINAR
COST: Virginia Based Co’s & Virginia University FREE; All Others $20
