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Europe • Tech

Second Front and Valarian Team Up

The mash-ups continue.  This morning, Second Front Systems (2F) and UK-based Valarian announced a strategic partnership to pair up Second Front’s government-facing commercial tech adoption software with Valarian’s sovereignty-focused data infrastructure to build a “new generation of sovereign-by-design digital solutions with controlled deployment pathways, compartmentalized environments, and audit-first infrastructure.” For the illiterate among us—basically, the […]

Investment

Constellr Raises $44M Series A

We may have just announced the Payload X Tectonic mashup at our summit in March, but we ain’t done talking about space-y defense-y stuff yet.  This morning, German thermal intelligence company constellr announced that it’s raised a €37M ($44M) Series A led by Alpine Space Ventures and Lakestar. The company says it will use the […]

Europe

The UK Enters the Dragon’s Den

Well, the UK is (kind of) putting its money where its mouth is? At the very least, they’ve got an all-star on their naming committee. On Friday, the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced that they’d officially carried out their first-ever “Dragon’s Den” style competition, where ten defense and dual-use startups (per the MoD) pitched […]

Pentagon

ICYMI: Pentagon Announces Drone Dominance Vendors 

If you’re looking for something to cure your post-Super Bowl blues, the Department of Defense has you covered.  Last week, the Pentagon revealed the 25 vendors selected to face off in the first phase of the Drone Dominance Program (DDP), the department’s $1.1B initiative to buy up tons of low-cost UAVs for the Army, and […]

Tech

Meet Seeing Systems, Y Combinator’s Newest Drone Startup 

Remember when Y Combinator startups made food delivery and crypto apps? Well, times they have a-changed.  This week, a new startup called Seeing Systems emerged out of the famed accelerator’s 2026 winter cohort, and they’re definitely not making widgets. The UK-based team—founded by two brothers—is building autonomous strike drones, and they’re already seeing early traction […]

Tech

Firestorm and Orqa Team Up

Look out, world. The defense tech bros are teaming up across the Atlantic.  Yesterday, Croatian drone wunderkind and California-based drone and additive manufacturing company Firestorm announced that they’re officially teaming up to 3D print Orqa’s teeny-tiny FPVs for frontline operators.  According to Firestorm CEO Dan Magy and Orqa CEO Srdjan Kovacevic, both companies and customers […]

Investment

ICYMI: a16z-backed Galadyne Enters the Missile Game

Missiles are having a moment, and a new startup out of Texas wants in.  Earlier this week, missile-making startup Galadyne formally launched with a lofty goal: Founder Chandler Luzsicza and his team want to completely rethink how missiles are made. And, lucky for them, they’ve raised $4.8M in pre-seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Pax Ventures, […]

Investment

Machina Labs Raises $124M to Build the Factory of the Future

Are you feeling the reindustrialize vibes yet? Well, you should be, because investors certainly are. Yesterday, advanced manufacturing startup Machina Labs closed a $124M Series C to build its first large-scale “intelligent factory.” The idea is to use AI-powered robots to rethink how everything from car parts to drone and missile airframes are made.  The […]

Investment • Tech

Exclusive: Whitespace Raises $3.2M Seed

We’ve talked a lot around here about how AI is changing the way wars are fought, but we haven’t spent all that much time talking about how it’s going to change the way intelligence is gathered and analyzed. That changes today. This morning, AI-powered intelligence company Whitespace announced in an exclusive release to Tectonic that […]

Investment

Skyryse Raises $300M Series C

If anyone was hoping that 2026 was going to be a bit chiller in defense tech land than 2025, well, shit luck for you. Yesterday, flight autonomy company Skyryse announced that it’s raised a whopping $300M Series C, bringing its valuation to $1.15B. (Unicorn status, baby!)  The round was led by Autopilot Ventures and Fidelity […]

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