Key Takeaways
- • HighPost Capital launched HighPost Aerospace, Defense, and Cybersecurity (ADC), its first vertical outside consumer-focused investments, led by former U.S. Navy intelligence officer David Walsh, backed by capital commitment from majority stakeholder Azimut Group (56% ownership as of May 2025).
- • The ADC vertical targets middle-market buyouts and late-stage growth investments in aerospace, defense, cybersecurity, and government services companies, focusing on founder-led enterprises historically underserved by institutional capital.
- • U.S. defense spending reached $991.5 billion in combined fiscal 2026 appropriations ($839.2 billion Department of Defense plus $152.3 billion from July 2025 reconciliation), with the administration requesting $1.5 trillion for fiscal 2027; cybersecurity spending forecast at $240 billion globally in 2026 (up 12.5% year-over-year) and aerospace/defense deal value tracking toward $32 billion in 2026.
- • The leadership team includes former Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Burr, former Treasury Assistant Secretary Thomas Feddo (CFIUS oversight 2019–2021), former Decon7 Systems CEO Matthew Bluhm, and former McNally Capital managing partner John Rompon, providing deep national security sector expertise and government relationships.
- • HighPost enters an established competitive landscape featuring Arlington Capital Partners ($6.0 billion seventh fund closure, October 2025), Veritas Capital ($15.3 billion ninth fund, February 2026), and AE Industrial Partners, with recent precedent transactions including Arlington's Eptec Defence acquisition and McNally Capital's TENICA Global Solutions investment (August 2026).
Summary
HighPost Capital has formalized entry into the aerospace, defense, cybersecurity, and government services sectors through the launch of HighPost Aerospace, Defense, and Cybersecurity (ADC), marking the firm's strategic pivot from its consumer-focused investment history since its 2019 founding. The new vertical, backed by capital commitment from Italian asset manager Azimut Group (which holds 56% of HighPost following its May 2025 stake increase), will pursue middle-market control buyouts and late-stage growth investments in fast-growing national security-adjacent businesses, with selective consideration of larger platform acquisitions.
Leadership of the ADC vertical centers on David Walsh, a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer and Naval Academy graduate who most recently served as managing partner of FON Advisors, a Virginia-based investment bank focused on aerospace, defense, and government services advisory. Walsh founded Prescient Edge, an intelligence services company, and will oversee origination, execution, and portfolio operations for the new vertical. The team brings substantial sector depth: Matthew Bluhm (former CEO of Decon7 Systems, a Texas-based decontamination technology provider) and John Rompon (former co-founder and managing partner of McNally Capital, a Chicago private equity firm specializing in aerospace, defense, and industrial technology) join the leadership core. The advisory board includes former U.S. Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, who chaired the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 2015 to 2020, and Thomas Feddo, the first Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Investment Security and former CFIUS director (2019–2021), providing direct access to regulatory and policy relationships critical to the sector.
The timing of HighPost's sector entry aligns with substantial government spending tailwinds. Congress appropriated $839.2 billion for the Department of Defense in fiscal 2026 combined with $152.3 billion from the July 2025 reconciliation law, while the administration has requested $1.5 trillion for national defense in fiscal 2027. NATO allies committed in June 2025 to spending 5% of GDP on defense and related security by 2035. Cybersecurity spending is accelerating: Gartner forecasts worldwide information security spending of $240 billion in 2026, up 12.5% from 2025, while the U.S. cybersecurity market alone is projected at $73.8 billion in 2025 with approximately 9% annual growth through 2033. PwC estimates global aerospace and defense deal value topped $30 billion in 2025 and is tracking toward approximately $32 billion in 2026.
HighPost's entry into national security investing occurs within an established competitive ecosystem anchored by specialists including Arlington Capital Partners (which closed its seventh fund at $6.0 billion in October 2025), Veritas Capital (ninth fund at $15.3 billion in February 2026), AE Industrial Partners (third fund at $1.28 billion in July 2024), and Enlightenment Capital (fifth fund at $825 million in November 2024). Recent sector transactions include Arlington's March 2026 agreement to acquire Sydney-based naval vessel maintenance provider Eptec Defence, which it combined with U.S. naval services provider AMP United in July to form Highwater, and McNally Capital's August 2026 majority investment in Virginia-based space and intelligence contractor TENICA Global Solutions. David Moross, HighPost founder and CEO, emphasized the firm's differentiation through the relationship with the Bezos family (co-founder Mark Bezos is the half-brother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos), citing "deep sector knowledge, significant relationships, operating experience, and judgment this market requires." HighPost's existing portfolio spans consumer verticals including digital fitness platform Centr, cereal maker Magic Spoon, and creator platform Spotter, with the ADC vertical representing the firm's first major sector diversification.
Leadership of the ADC vertical centers on David Walsh, a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer and Naval Academy graduate who most recently served as managing partner of FON Advisors, a Virginia-based investment bank focused on aerospace, defense, and government services advisory. Walsh founded Prescient Edge, an intelligence services company, and will oversee origination, execution, and portfolio operations for the new vertical. The team brings substantial sector depth: Matthew Bluhm (former CEO of Decon7 Systems, a Texas-based decontamination technology provider) and John Rompon (former co-founder and managing partner of McNally Capital, a Chicago private equity firm specializing in aerospace, defense, and industrial technology) join the leadership core. The advisory board includes former U.S. Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina, who chaired the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence from 2015 to 2020, and Thomas Feddo, the first Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Investment Security and former CFIUS director (2019–2021), providing direct access to regulatory and policy relationships critical to the sector.
The timing of HighPost's sector entry aligns with substantial government spending tailwinds. Congress appropriated $839.2 billion for the Department of Defense in fiscal 2026 combined with $152.3 billion from the July 2025 reconciliation law, while the administration has requested $1.5 trillion for national defense in fiscal 2027. NATO allies committed in June 2025 to spending 5% of GDP on defense and related security by 2035. Cybersecurity spending is accelerating: Gartner forecasts worldwide information security spending of $240 billion in 2026, up 12.5% from 2025, while the U.S. cybersecurity market alone is projected at $73.8 billion in 2025 with approximately 9% annual growth through 2033. PwC estimates global aerospace and defense deal value topped $30 billion in 2025 and is tracking toward approximately $32 billion in 2026.
HighPost's entry into national security investing occurs within an established competitive ecosystem anchored by specialists including Arlington Capital Partners (which closed its seventh fund at $6.0 billion in October 2025), Veritas Capital (ninth fund at $15.3 billion in February 2026), AE Industrial Partners (third fund at $1.28 billion in July 2024), and Enlightenment Capital (fifth fund at $825 million in November 2024). Recent sector transactions include Arlington's March 2026 agreement to acquire Sydney-based naval vessel maintenance provider Eptec Defence, which it combined with U.S. naval services provider AMP United in July to form Highwater, and McNally Capital's August 2026 majority investment in Virginia-based space and intelligence contractor TENICA Global Solutions. David Moross, HighPost founder and CEO, emphasized the firm's differentiation through the relationship with the Bezos family (co-founder Mark Bezos is the half-brother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos), citing "deep sector knowledge, significant relationships, operating experience, and judgment this market requires." HighPost's existing portfolio spans consumer verticals including digital fitness platform Centr, cereal maker Magic Spoon, and creator platform Spotter, with the ADC vertical representing the firm's first major sector diversification.
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