After staying out of the spotlight among its NATO allies, the Canadians have really started making some serious money moves in defense, and we’re not talkin’ aboot hockey, eh?
This morning, Calgary-based interceptor startup North Vector Dynamics announced that it’s closed a C$29M (US$20M) Series A led by Tech Horizons—a Prague-based deep tech VC firm backed by Czech defense giant CSG—at an over US$90M valuation.
- ONE9, Garage Capital, CSG, Ripple Ventures, Feld Ventures, Conconi Growth Partners and other investors participated in the round.
Great white north: After emerging from stealth last year, NVD has hit the ground running thanks to two major tailwinds—interceptors are hotter than hot, and everyone wants a sovereign defense industry.
- The team is led by Dr. Paul Ziadé (CEO), a former engineering professor, and Dr. Craig Johansen (Chief Science Officer), a former NASA hypersonics researcher.
- They originally launched in 2022 as an engineering R&D company before pivoting to air defense two years later.
Ultimately, NVD wants to build a “full-spectrum missile capability, from counter-UAS solutions to hypersonics,” but the Series A is all about scaling up development and production of its flagship interceptor, the CM-70.
- The mini-missile weighs less than 7 lbs and measures under a meter in length, but packs a heck of a punch, with a top speed of 560mph and a two-mile range.
- It’s designed to deploy from ground, vehicle, or airborne platforms and integrate with existing layered air defense architectures. NVD says it’s also ITAR-free, which is “particularly relevant for NATO and allied armed forces seeking scalable, interoperable air defence capabilities with fewer export-control restrictions.”
- Ziadé also bills it as a “fraction of the cost” of competitors, including BAE’s workhorse Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) guided rocket.
- NVD is planning to open a 25,000-square-foot facility and scale annual missile production into the thousands in 2027.
Going global: Bringing on Czech defense giant CSG as an investor (both directly and through Tech Horizons) is more than just about filling a seat on the cap table.
NVD inked a deal with the $16B defense firm last week to “explore European manufacturing and supply chain opportunities for NVD products, and the integration of NVD’s CM-70 counter-UAS interceptor into CSG systems,” in addition to getting a foot in the door in “European and allied markets.” Helps to have friends in high places.
“The time to build these technologies is now. There is a real sense of urgency right now. Europe can’t wait. The Gulf can’t wait. Arguably, Canada shouldn’t wait,” Ziadé told Canadian outlet The Globe and Mail. “And so, we said, ‘Let’s do it and let’s just pour more fuel on the fire.’”
“The new financing round provides not only capital for our next stage of growth, but also strategic partners who will help us accelerate development, expand production and bring our technologies to customers across Canada, Europe and other allied and partner markets,” he added in a statement.
Oh Canada: Even with their eyes starting to venture abroad, NVD should have plenty of interest—and funding—on the home front, too, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on a mission to build up the country’s (pretty much nonexistent) domestic defense industry.
Carney’s defense spending plan, announced last year, will see Canada’s defense budget rise from C$75B ($53B) to C$95B ($67.6B) by 2030, as part of a C$82B ($58B) increase in spending for the Canadian Armed Forces over five years. Over the next decade, Canada says it intends to triple defense spending, totaling more than C$1.2T ($900B), as it pushes to spend 5 percent of GDP on defense by 2035.
- Within that budget boost, the Canadian government is investing billions to fuel defense startups through new programs, expand defense industry partnerships with allies, and lead the creation of a $112B multinational Defense, Security and Resilience Bank to invest in allied defense projects.
That’s been good news for the few startups rushing into Canada’s fledgling defense tech scene (remember Dominion Dynamics’ $100M Series A in June?) in the absence of any major primes gobbling up the budget, and NVD is betting that the interceptor boom and push for sovereignty will be a recipe for success in Canada and beyond.
