Invariant, the D.C. government affairs shop headed by lobbying powerhouse and Democratic insider Heather Podesta, has inked a pact with Finnish microsatellite start-up Iceye to handle defense issues on Capitol Hill.
Iceye provides radar satellite imagery of the Earth’s land surface for commercial industries and government agencies. The Espoo, Finland-based company, which maintains additional offices in the United Kingdom, Poland and the U.S., launched three of its synthetic aperture radar imaging satellites from Cape Canaveral in January as part of the SpaceX rideshare spaceship mission.
Invariant will educate members of the Biden Administration “on the advancement of satellite imaging,” according to lobbying registration documents filed with Congress in January.
A four-person team leads the Iceye account, including Annie Palisi, who was aide to former House speaker John Boehner (R-OH); Maia Hunt Estes, former chief of staff to Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD) and legislative affairs director for D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser; Varun Krovi, former chief of staff to Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-MI); and Lindley Sherer, former chief of staff to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY).
Invariant was founded in 2007 by CEO Heather Podesta, former aide to Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ) who was prevoously married to Tony Podesta, founder of now-defunct lobbying powerhouse Podesta Group.
The country’s largest woman-owned government relations firm, Invariant’s clients include Apple, American Beverage Association, Yelp, Dish Network and Toyota.