Investment

Merlin Raises Upsized PIPE Financing to $200M Ahead of Going Public

For all of the antiquated critiques that defense tech isn’t an investable sector, a whole lot of investors would beg to differ.  On Monday, aviation autonomy hotshot Merlin announced over $75M in new private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing, increasing the total capital raised from $125M to more than $200M ahead of their expected […]

InvestmentPentagon

The Pentagon’s $9B Shutdown Spending Spree

Despite the government being shut down for 43 days—the longest in US history—the Pentagon was certainly open for business.  After the House struck a deal and President Trump signed a continuing resolution to keep the government open through January last week, the DoD’s workforce returned to their desks to announce nearly $9B in new contracts […]

Investment

CHAOS Industries Raises $510M at a $4.5B Valuation

We’re not saying crazy cash is flying around the defense tech world because of our summit, but we’re not not saying it.   Yesterday, “domain dominance” defense startup and 8VC darling CHAOS Industries announced that it’s raised $510M in new funding at a $4.5B valuation, led by Valor Equity Partners (friends of Mr. Musk and early […]

InvestmentTech

Anduril’s Big Week

It’s been (another) busy, busy week in defense tech, especially for everyone’s favorite globetrotting neo-prime.  Over the past few days, Anduril has announced a new autonomous air vehicle (AAV) called Omen, its selection for the Army’s Integrated Battle Command System Maneuver (IBCS-M) program, a partnership with Hyundai Heavy Industries on autonomous surface vessels (ASVs), and […]

Investment

Forterra Hits $1B+ Valuation after $238M Series C

Well, the defense tech money hose isn’t looking like it’s slowing down anytime soon.  On Wednesday, ground autonomy company Forterra announced a massive $238M Series C that launched its valuation over the $1B mark. The funding round—which included $50M in debt financing—was led by Moore Strategic Ventures with participation from RTX Ventures, Franklin Templeton, Hanwha […]

InvestmentPentagon

Neros Raises $75M Series B, Tapped for Army Drone Program

Last week, we said Neros was turning things up a notch. We might’ve jumped the gun—now they’re really turning it up.  Earlier this week, the white-hot drone startup announced it closed $75M Series B. As a cherry on top, they were tapped for the US Army’s Purpose Built Attritable System (PBAS) program.  Not a bad […]

Investment

MVP Ventures Raises $125M Fund II

Whoever thought the defense tech investment hype cycle was coming to an end, think again. Late last week, California-based VC fund MVP Ventures announced that it’s raised a $125M Fund II, nearly quadrupling its $35M Fund I.  MVP Managing Partner Weston Moyer told Tectonic that about 12-15 percent of that will go to defense tech—six […]

Investment

Firehawk Scores “Strategic Investment” from Hanwha

Remember that Firehawk winning streak we covered last month? Well, turns out the energetics startup wasn’t quite finished. Yesterday, the company announced—just two months after closing a $60M funding—that it’s received an additional “eight-figure” strategic investment from Hanwha Defense USA, according to a company spokesperson.  Firehawk CEO Will Edwards told Tectonic that the partnership will […]

InvestmentPentagon

Vulcan Elements Inks $1.4B Deal with the US Government and ReElement

The DoD, sorry, DoW, has really gotten a taste for critical minerals. On Monday, rare-earth magnet maker Vulcan Elements announced a whopping $1.4B partnership with the Pentagon, Department of Commerce, and ReElement Technologies to scale their vertically integrated rare-earth magnet supply chain.  Sounds like the meeting with Xi wasn’t that good.  Rare air: Drones have […]