Investment

Vatn Raises $60M Series A

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, […]

Investment

Pryzm Raises $12.2M Led by a16z

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, […]

Investment

Castelion Closes $350M Series B

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 […]

Investment

Saronic Invests $300M in Louisiana Shipyard

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 […]

Investment

Exclusive Interview: Sky Spy Scores $1.6M for SIGINT

​​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, […]

Investment

Antares Raises $96M Series B

If all goes according to plan, a handful of nuclear fission firms in the US will finally switch on their microreactor and small modular reactors before Independence Day. And Antares—a Redondo Beach, CA-based company building small-scale nuclear fission reactors for remote deployment—has just raised a fresh batch of funding to fuel its run-up to that […]

Investment

Exclusive: New Vista Capital Raising $60M Fund I for A&D

Looks like no one’s found the shut-off valve on the defense tech funding tap yet.  This morning, in an exclusive release to Tectonic, DC-based VC New Vista Capital announced that it’s officially raising a $60M Fund I that it will deploy into early-stage aerospace and defense startups. In a world where everyone and their mom […]

Investment

Hydrogen Drone Startup Heven AeroTech Raises $100M Series B 

Well, we’re back with more Heven AeroTech news—and man, oh man, do the drone dollars keep on comin’. On Monday, the Israeli-American hydrogen-powered drone startup announced that it’s closed a whopping $100M Series B funding round led by their new friends at IonQ, valuing the company at $1B.  The Chinese Zodiac calendar officially says it’s […]

InvestmentTech

NATO and Ukraine Launch Joint Innovation Initiative

Ukraine’s path to NATO is looking shakier by the day, but that hasn’t stopped the alliance from pushing to integrate the country’s battle-tested tech into Europe’s defense tech ecosystem.  Late last week, as we were all enjoying our turkey, NATO and Ukraine unveiled a new competition called “UNITE–Brave NATO,” designed to accelerate the adoption of […]

EuropeInvestment

Quantum Systems Raises €180M at €3B Valuation

Well, the Europeans aren’t showing any signs of slowing down on the drone front. On Friday, German ISR UAS company (and STARK forefather) Quantum Systems announced that it has raised a €180M ($209M) Series C extension at a €3B ($3.49B) valuation, led by Balderton Capital. This comes on the heels of a €160M ($186M) raise […]