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 […]
Christmas came early for the defense tech world. On Monday, Undersecretary of War for Research and Engineering (USW(R&E)), Emil Michael, unveiled the six Critical Technology Areas (CTAs) that made the cut on the Pentagon’s pared-down list of priorities, a key signal of where the Department intends to direct R&D resources. Hope y’all aren’t too bummed […]
Again, we’re not saying that money moves are happening across Europe because of the Tectonic European Defense Summit…but the signs are there. This morning, Ukraine signed what Emmanuel Macron called a “historic” letter of intent with the French government to buy 100 Dassault-made Rafale fighter jets, along with eight SAMP/T air defense systems and Aster-30 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
It would appear the great startup-prime defense tech partnership fever has spread across the pond. On Thursday, Estonian counter-drone interceptor startup Frankenburg Technologies announced that its teaming up with Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (Polish Armaments Group, or PGZ)—the holding company for Poland’s state-owned defense companies— to integrate and produce interceptors, with plans to build up to […]
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 […]
If there is one fund that knows how to deploy big-time cash into tech companies, it’s Bessemer Venture Partners. The Silicon Valley fund has about $19B under management, and has invested in tech giants from LinkedIn (everyone’s fav) to Shopify. This year, the fund has turned to defense—specifically, European defense. They led Auterion’s $130M Series […]
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 […]
