CIA, In-Q-Tel, And Alethea
Ted Schlein is partner at Ballistic Ventures and Kleiner Perkins, the legendary Silicon Valley VC firm. In 2022, Schlein led a $10 million Series A investment in Alethea Group for Ballistic, and sits on its board. Kaplan says she met Schlein that same year.
Schlein is also a member of the Board of Trustees of In-Q-Tel, or IQT, which is the CIA’s mission-driven venture capital firm.
In 2022, IQT published a summary report describing its “Disinformation Workshop.” The report recommended many activities similar to those Alethea has offered, including “Track the confluence of bad narratives.”
A full one-third of IQT investments were secret as of 2016, according to the Wall Street Journal.
wsj.com/articles/the-c
The Journal also reported that Schlein had at least one connection to a firm in which IQT invested. And that was over seven years ago.
“I do not know Zatko, Jankowicz or Otis. Lisa is the CEO of Alethea and I serve on her board of directors,” Schlein told us. He added that he is not aware of any relationship between Alethea and the IC and that he has no operational role.
When asked if IQT had funded Alethea Group, Schlein said, “This is a question either the company or InQTel should answer, not me.”
“I get the feeling that Alethea is a byproduct of Ted Schlein,” a high-tech entrepreneur told us, “and the CEO is merely a titular head….Without meaningful experience, it's not clear to me how [Lisa Kaplan] received $10m in a series A round.”
In March 2022, the Department of Homeland Security made Schlein a member of its advisory council.