Latest Stories
PDW Secures $35M Investment from Ondas Holdings
Well, the drone dollars keep on coming. On Thursday, Alabama-based drone maker Performance Drone Works (PDW) secured a $35M strategic investment from Ondas Autonomous Systems (OAS), the drone and counter-drone business unit of Boston-based defense tech holding company Ondas Holdings. Speeding up: PDW was founded in 2018 out of the Drone Racing League (basically drone […]
Kraken Scores $49M USSOCOM OTA
Turns out the leap across the pond goes both ways. This morning, UK-based USV company Kraken Technology Group announced that they’ve scored a coveted $49M cap OTA with United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to develop and prototype “novel uncrewed surface and subsurface vessel technologies to enhance maritime capabilities for U.S. special operations forces.” This […]
Shield AI and Destinus Ink Partnership
The great leap across the pond continues. Yesterday, US defense tech giant Shield AI announced that it’s partnering with European autonomous flight company Destinus to “integrate Hivemind, Shield AI’s mission autonomy software, across Destinus’ aerial platforms.” “Destinus is one of Europe’s most consequential defense technology companies,” Chris Brinkley, Head of European Business Development and Strategy […]
HavocAI and SAIC Team Up
Between raising $85M in October and inking deals with some big-time defense players, it’s been a whirlwind of a fall for HavocAI. On Wednesday, the Rhode Island-based maritime autonomy startup kept things hot, announcing a partnership with SAIC to integrate the defense software mega-contractor’s Joint Range Extension (JRE) multi-domain communications and data system with Havoc’s […]
A Q+A with Alex Ferrara, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners
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 […]
A Q+A with Arthur Herman and John Burer
If you’ve been in DC anytime in the past few years, you will have heard of Arthur Herman. In case you’re unfamiliar (nerd!), he wrote Freedom’s Forge back in 2012, which has shaped a lot of the First Breakfast-type reindustrialization conversations we’ve been having lately. Sparknotes: The book (if you haven’t read it or have […]
A Q+A with Enrique Oti, CSO at Second Front Systems
Personally, we would give a lot to be a fly on the wall in the early days of the Defense Innovation Unit (RIP Unit X). Luckily, we know a guy who was there. Enrique Oti—apparently referred to intermittently as “Software Jesus of the Air Force”—was one of the co-founders of DIU, and for much of […]
A Q+A with Mal Crease, CEO of Kraken
Some people like to take things slow. Other people—like Mal Crease—prefer everything at full throttle. The founder and CEO of USV company Kraken Technology came into defense from high-speed boat racing in 2020, and has brought the same obsession with speed and performance that once helped him break world records to the world of unmanned […]
