One 9 Investments

One 9 runs an in-house unit called Capability Labs that works directly with government end-users to identify specific national-security capability gaps. Those validated requirements become the filter for sourcing startups, meaning a company's technology is tested against a defined mission need before One 9 considers investing. This model generates proprietary deal flow that generalist venture firms without security-cleared personnel and government access cannot replicate.

One 9 is a dedicated security and defence platform built within Kensington Capital Partners and backed by AGF Capital Partners. Kensington brings a nearly 30-year Canadian venture track record, while AGF provides institutional-grade limited-partner relationships and public-company governance. This means One 9 accesses institutional infrastructure without having to build it independently.

One 9 invests in technologies that serve both defence and commercial markets—autonomous systems, space-based analytics, secure communications, and critical-infrastructure monitoring. The dual-use thesis requires that a portfolio company have a credible government or national-security buyer pulling on the technology early, which then funds the product development needed to scale into commercial industrial markets. Confirmed examples include Hidden Level's drone-detection sensors and Slingshot Aerospace's space-domain AI tools.

The firm concentrates on early-stage venture opportunities, spanning seed through growth rounds where the technology has demonstrated mission relevance to allied governments. Geographically, One 9 focuses on Canada, the United States, and other Five Eyes nations, reflecting the allied security relationships that underpin its sourcing and Capability Labs validation work.

One 9's public-facing materials position it as a direct investor into dual-use technology startups. Because the firm sits inside Kensington Capital Partners—which itself runs fund-of-funds programs—the institutional structure could accommodate both direct and indirect exposures, but One 9's disclosed activity and portfolio construction emphasize direct venture investing through its national-security lens.

Capability Labs functions as a pre-investment validation engine. It fields a task force of international subject-matter experts who work with government clients to define operational capability gaps, then test startup technologies against those requirements. Companies that pass Capability Labs' validation process are derisked and prioritized for venture investment, creating a feedback loop where mission validation directly informs capital allocation.

One 9 is structured around investment themes that map to national-security demand—advanced manufacturing, aerospace, autonomous systems, AI, critical-infrastructure protection, cybersecurity, secure communications, and quantum technologies. Consumer internet, enterprise SaaS unrelated to defence missions, and life sciences are absent from the stated themes, reflecting a deliberate choice to invest only where the team's end-user expertise and Capability Labs validation process add proprietary value.