InvestmentPolicy

The State of European Defense Innovation

In case you missed it, Europe is reeling.  On a whirlwind tour of the continent last week, SecDef Pete Hegseth and VP JD Vance openly questioned the transatlantic security agreements that have underpinned European defense since WWII. Meanwhile, Trump is pushing forward with Ukraine peace talks that exclude Ukraine, along with all of Washington’s European allies. Then there was that hour-and-a-half-long call with […]

Investment

EnCharge AI Closes $100M Series B

Much of the world might have been gobsmacked by DeepSeek and AI’s Sputnik moment, but EnCharge AI has been thinking about how to make artificial intelligence more efficient and more powerful for years.  The company’s proprietary analog in-memory chip—developed initially out of a Princeton lab by CEO Naveen Verma and his team—is 20X more efficient and 9X […]

InvestmentTech

Anduril’s Winning Streak

Palmer Luckey just can’t stop winning. Over the weekend, CNBC reported that Anduril is reportedly in talks to raise up to $2.5B at a $28B pre-money valuation. Sources familiar with the deal told Tectonic that the round was led by Peter Thiel’s Founder’s Fund, which coughed up a $1B check. The term sheet was reportedly signed on […]

InvestmentTech

Applied Intuition Acquires EpiSci

Thought the AI mergers were over? Think again. Today, autonomous vehicle software developer Applied Intuition announced that it’s acquiring EpiSci, a software company that builds autonomous systems for everything from drones to surface vessels to fighter jets.  Applied Intuition CTO and co-founder Peter Ludwig told Tectonic that the deal would enable the company to expand beyond ground-based […]

Investment

America’s Frontier Fund Backs Venus Aerospace

Just days after being licensed by the DoD’s Small Business Investment Company Critical Technologies (SBICCT) initiative, America’s Frontier Fund (AFF) announced it’s backing Venus Aerospace in its quest for hypersonic flight. Venus says the money from the Eric Schmidt and Peter Thiel-backed fund will help advance its VDR2 engine for use in high-speed capabilities from missiles to […]

Investment

From Ohio, With Love

Looks like defense production is coming back to the Buckeye State.  This morning, Anduril Technologies announced that it will build its long-anticipated Arsenal-1 hyperscale manufacturing facility in Columbus, OH. Anduril will invest $1B of its own capital in the plant, which at full capacity will span 5M+ square feet, employ 4,000 people, and produce tens […]