Well, if anyone thought 2026 was going to be a chill year, everyone and their mother is out to prove you wrong. Yesterday, European drone giant Destinus announced that it’s finalized its acquisition of Swiss AI avionics company Daedalean for a cool CHF 180M ($225M). Destinus said in a statement that Daedalean (say that five […]
“If AI is to be the brains of America’s tech supremacy, Gundo hopes to provide the muscle, the energy and the firepower,” The Economist recently wrote. “The harder it is to build, the better.” Looks like we can add super high-tech materials and composites to the list of ambitious Gundo exports, especially after El Segundo, […]
We love a cheeky raise to kick off the new year. This morning, space-based radar company Array Labs announced in an exclusive release to Tectonic that it’s raised a $20M Series A led by Catapult Ventures, with participation from Washington Harbour Partners, Kompas VC, and others, including Y Combinator. The startup—which builds powerful, more affordable […]
We’d be the first to tell you that it’s been a banner year in defense tech. As it turns out, the numbers back up our—and, if you’re reading Tectonic, your—excitement. According to a Q3 report from Pitchbook, defense tech venture capital is on track to close out the year “firmly in expansion mode.” We’re not […]
You know what sucks? When you’re flying a drone against Russian targets somewhere deep on the frontline and—suddenly—your comms line goes dark. It’s an experience that will be all too familiar to our Ukrainian military readers, and one that startup Zerophase is trying to make way less common. Late last week, the German data link […]
Time for a riddle: what swims below the ocean surface, can carry explosive payloads, and has just raised a big ol’ funding round? As it turns out—Vatn Systems. This morning, the Rhode Island–based autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) startup announced that it closed a $60M Series A led by BVVC, with participation from investors including Hanwha, […]
Remember when we were way in the weeds on the nuts and bolts, unsexy side of the defense industry? Well, we’re back—it’s time to talk contracting. This morning, AI-powered government market intelligence platform (say that five times fast) Pryzm announced that it’s raised $12.2M in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) with participation from XYZ, […]
The hype for hypersonics is back, baby. On Friday, El Segundo-based hypersonic missile startup Castelion announced that they’ve officially closed their $350M Series B, led by Altimeter Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Lavrock Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, First In, Space VC, Cantos, BlueYard, Avenir, Champion Hill, and Interlagos. The round—first rumored […]
Saronic is making a big splash down south. On Wednesday, the autonomous surface vessel (ASV) heavyweight announced it’s making a $300M investment in its Franklin, Louisiana, shipyard, a move the company says will speed up its delivery of those robo-ships the Navy so desperately wants. Future fleet, here we come. Splashing around: Saronic has a […]
We’ve talked a lot about electronic warfare recently, and it looks like we’re not stopping anytime soon. This morning, in an exclusive interview with Tectonic, Sky Spy—a signal intelligence startup born on Ukraine’s frontlines—announced that they’ve raised a $1.6M pre-seed led by Expeditions Fund and Superangel, with participation from Freedom Fund, Sunfish Partners, Crosscourt Ventures, […]
