Things are heating up in Europe, y’all. Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that German drone company Stark is in talks to raise $60M at a $500M valuation, led by US-based mega-VC Sequoia Capital. A company spokesperson confirmed the raise to Tectonic. Other funds in talks to join the round include 8VC, Thiel Capital, the NATO Innovation Fund, […]
As we mentioned yesterday, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Trump met in the Oval Office, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had offered to buy about $90B worth of US weapons as part of a deal to end the war with Russia. Plus, the US would buy Ukrainian weapons once they’re cleared for export. The FT […]
Well, solid rocket motors (SRMs) are certainly having a moment. Yesterday afternoon, SRM production startup X-Bow Systems announced a $13.9M joint investment with the US Army to “design, prototype, and test an advanced manufactured SRM for the standard-range Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS),” which is produced by Lockheed Martin. The joint investment is facilitated […]
We’ve said it before and we’ve said it again: Sometimes, the most game-changing tech isn’t flash-bang missiles or one-way attack drones. Sometimes, it’s the less sexy stuff needed to get critical supplies—food, ammo, med kit—to the front as quickly and safely as possible. Grid Aero was founded to meet this need. This morning, the autonomous […]
Well, we’re back to remind you that maritime autonomy is all the rage. This morning, Saildrone announced in an exclusive release to Tectonic that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has signed a blanket purchase agreement (BPA) with a cap of $37M to buy the company’s unmanned vessels in support of the US Coast Guard […]
Pew pew is back, baby. This morning, laser communications company Aalyria—a spinoff of Google—announced that their Tightbeam system has achieved two major technical milestones as part of a $7M contract to develop over-the-horizon connectivity with the Navy Research Laboratory: These both represent a major breakthrough in overcoming atmospheric complications in laser communication close to the […]
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a bit of a legal drama happening in the defense tech world. On August 4, publicly held drone company Red Cat Holdings ($RCAT) filed a lawsuit against drone company Vector Defense (and its co-founder and CTO George Matus) for stealing trade secrets under the Defend Trade Secrets Act. Red […]
Looks like the Navy is getting into the energy biz. Late last week, the Department of the Navy released a solicitation asking industry to develop “innovative, deployable energy solutions capable of powering Navy and Marine Corps installations with unmatched resilience, security, and reliability.” The idea is to build super-rugged energy infrastructure that can provide power […]
Institutional investors are going batshit crazy for defense. Yesterday, five major financial institutions, including ING and JPMorgan Chase, announced that they’re backing the Defence, Security and Resilience Bank, a new not-for-profit bank that will help NATO countries and allies finance defense needs. Backed by these finance heavy-hitters, DSRB will issue AAA-rated bonds for countries to […]
Another day, another money move. This week, defense and security-focused Forward Deployed Venture Capital announced that they have raised a $45M Fund II, backed by 150 LPs from companies including Palantir, Anduril, and SpaceX. FDVC General Partner Mark Scianna—who worked at Palantir for 11 years himself—told Tectonic that they’ll use the new pile of cash […]
