Istari

Istari Digital is a digital engineering collaboration platform purpose-built for aerospace and defense organizations. Founded in 2022 by Will Roper (former Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition) and Chris Benson, Istari connects engineering models, simulations, and cross-functional teams on a unified data infrastructure, cutting program timelines from weeks to minutes. The platform provides bi-directional data flow across tools like Cameo, MATLAB, and 3DX, enabling seamless collaboration between engineers, suppliers, and regulators without vendor lock-in. Istari raised $13M in seed funding led by Schmidt Futures and serves defense primes and government acquisition programs.