Looks like Astro Mechanica is really speeding things up. This morning, the supersonic engine and aircraft manufacturing company announced that it has raised $27.1M in funding, co-led by a16z, Lowercarbon, and Giant Step, with significant participation from Alumni and Voyager. Astro Mechanica CEO Ian Brooke told Tectonic in an exclusive interview that the funding will […]
Looks like Saronic really is trying to build the shipyard of the future. Yesterday, the unmanned surface vessel (USV) company and 8VC darling announced that it’s acquired Gulf Craft, a shipbuilder on the Louisiana coast. The company also unveiled a new 150-foot medium USV (MUSV) called Marauder, which will be prototyped out of Gulf Craft’s […]
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Maritime autonomy is all the rage. Late last week, autonomous shipbuilder Blue Water Autonomy emerged from stealth and announced $14M in seed funding led by Eclipse, Riot, and Impatient Ventures. The company is building a larger-profile, fully autonomous warship for the US Navy that can stay […]
Many of the hardest things about warfare are the things that seem the simplest. Like getting the right supplies to the right place at the right time. It’s super tough to know what fighters need and to get it to them before it’s too late, especially in far-flung places like the Indo-Pacific. (US military leaders […]
The manufacturing hype continues. On Tuesday, serial entrepreneur Jai Malik and former SpaceX engineering lead Eli Giovanetti launched The Advanced Manufacturing Company of America, or Amca, which they say will better build the “human-machine interface products.” Those are things like sensors, power units, and flight-control computers that enable a person to run something like an […]
Big week for C-UAS systems. Yesterday, directed energy weapons company Epirus announced a $250M Series D, led by 8VC and Washington Harbour Partners LP. CEO Andy Lowery told Tectonic that the funding will be used to ramp up production of the company’s Leonidas™ system and build a facility in Oklahoma that would enable the company […]
Let’s play a game. What company is less than three years old, builds unmanned vessels, and is worth $4B? Saronic, as it turns out. The Texas-based USV company announced today that it has raised a $600M Series C, quadrupling its valuation from last summer. The round was led by Elad Gil, with participation from General […]
In case you missed it, Europe is reeling. On a whirlwind tour of the continent last week, SecDef Pete Hegseth and VP JD Vance openly questioned the transatlantic security agreements that have underpinned European defense since WWII. Meanwhile, Trump is pushing forward with Ukraine peace talks that exclude Ukraine, along with all of Washington’s European allies. Then there was that hour-and-a-half-long call with […]
Much of the world might have been gobsmacked by DeepSeek and AI’s Sputnik moment, but EnCharge AI has been thinking about how to make artificial intelligence more efficient and more powerful for years. The company’s proprietary analog in-memory chip—developed initially out of a Princeton lab by CEO Naveen Verma and his team—is 20X more efficient and 9X […]
Palmer Luckey just can’t stop winning. Over the weekend, CNBC reported that Anduril is reportedly in talks to raise up to $2.5B at a $28B pre-money valuation. Sources familiar with the deal told Tectonic that the round was led by Peter Thiel’s Founder’s Fund, which coughed up a $1B check. The term sheet was reportedly signed on […]
