Optica Labs TEVV Products Find AI Failures Before Deployment, Earning Triple Recognition in Nation's Capital
Optica Labs Named One of DCA Live’s 2025 Red Hot Dual Use Companies; Also Selected as a 2025 FORGE Award Winner and Featured at VC in DC Missions + Markets 2.0
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, December 4, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Optica Labs is honored to announce its selection as one of DCA Live’s 2025 Red Hot Dual Use Companies, a distinction recognizing the region’s most innovative startups building technology with both commercial and national security applications.
This announcement follows a series of major milestones for the company, including being named a 2025 FORGE Award winner and being selected as one of the top 20 startups invited to participate in VC in DC’s Missions + Markets 2.0 convening for mission-driven and dual-use innovators.
“These recognitions reflect the urgency of building AI systems that are resilient, transparent, and aligned with human needs,” said Tiarne Hawkins, Co-Founder and CEO of Optica Labs. “Organizations across government and industry are deploying powerful models, often without full visibility into how they behave under stress. Optica Labs is meeting that moment by giving leaders the tools they need to predict, attribute, and diagnose AI safely.”
“These awards affirm the vision that brought our team together,” said Nick Reese, COO of Optica Labs. “We exist to help institutions navigate the complexity of emerging AI and autonomous technologies while preserving public trust. From testing and evaluation to threat prediction, our work is grounded in a simple belief: AI assurance is not optional. It is foundational to the future we are building.”
Optica Labs' Assurance platform provides certainty in Testing, Evaluation, Verification, and Validation (TEVV) for AI behavioral reliability:
• Testing against real human behavioral patterns, not sanitized lab data.
• Evaluation across three vectors: regular users, AI agents, and adversarial attackers.
• Verification with automated compliance documentation for NIST AI RMF, MITRE ATLAS, and emerging regulations like California SB-53 and New York's RAISE Act.
• Validation using proprietary risk algorithms that predict where and how AI will fail, before it occurs. The platform runs 24/7 autonomous stress testing while integrating human expert validation, exposing hidden vulnerabilities that traditional testing misses.
The FORGE Award highlights early-stage companies demonstrating exceptional innovation, execution, and mission alignment across the region’s tech ecosystem. Inclusion in Missions + Markets 2.0 places Optica Labs among the top 20 startups shaping frontier AI, defense tech, and dual-use solutions in the capital region.
About Optica Labs
Optica Labs builds AI testing and risk mitigation infrastructure for government, enterprise, and foundation model builders. Through continuous behavioral stress testing and compliance automation, we help organizations deploy AI faster and safer. Learn more at opticalabs.ai.
Chris Luckenbill
Optica Labs Inc
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