George Barnes, the former deputy director of the National Security Agency (NSA), has made his first move as a venture capitalist — backing open source cybersecurity startup Hunted Labs with a $3 million pre-seed investment.
Now a cyber president at venture studio Red Cell Partners, Barnes spent 35 years at the NSA, working everywhere from London to active war zones. From 2017 to 2023, he served as the agency’s deputy director, overseeing operations that both penetrated enemy systems and uncovered critical vulnerabilities.
“Understanding how to hack makes you a better defender,” Barnes said, reflecting on the NSA’s unique position in identifying zero-day threats and hardening defenses.
That same mindset drove him to invest in Hunted Labs, founded by Hayden Smith. Smith built his career in DevOps and cybersecurity for the Department of Defense (DoD), including work on the DoD’s ambitious Platform One project — a massive software factory designed to accelerate app deployment using secure cloud and open-source software (OSS).
But that project raised a key question: Who actually writes the open-source software the government relies on? Smith realized no scalable tool existed to vet the contributors behind OSS projects — an issue made glaringly obvious by the 2024 XZ Utils backdoor incident. A trusted open-source contributor spent years embedding themselves in the Linux ecosystem before planting malicious code, almost undetected.
That event reinforced Smith’s vision. He wanted to commercialize the contributor background checks he once ran inside the DoD. After cold emailing investors, Smith was surprised when Barnes — the former NSA deputy — replied.
Intrigued, Barnes invited Hunted Labs into Red Cell’s three-month “discovery” program, designed to incubate startups with strong mentorship and hands-on support. Unlike traditional seed deals, these arrangements often give venture partners a more active role in shaping the company.
By the end of the program, Hunted Labs had sharpened its product, landed initial customers, and closed the $3 million pre-seed round from Red Cell. The startup also secured a $1.79 million contract with the Space Development Agency — a deal driven by Smith’s own government connections, not Red Cell’s.
That contract came through the AFWERX program, which funds research for small businesses working with the defense sector. Co-founders Tim Barone, a former DoD project security engineer, and Smith’s wife Amanda Aguayo, helped strengthen the team’s government ties.
Barnes noted that Hunted Labs doesn’t face the usual hurdles that Silicon Valley defense startups encounter when trying to enter the federal market. “They’re recognized professionals with reputations inside the department, so doors open for them,” he said.
Beyond contributor vetting, Hunted Labs also delivers traditional OSS threat management—identifying software components in use and flagging vulnerabilities in code. It now competes with well-established players like Black Duck Software, Mend.io, and Snyk.
With its deep government roots and mission-driven focus, Hunted Labs is carving out a niche in securing open-source software — a growing priority as more organizations, public and private, lean heavily on OSS infrastructure.
