Defense Tech Startups

Neros manufactures tactical unmanned aerial systems and FPV drones for military use, designed for performance, modularity, and secure supply chain operations. The company produces attritable, one-way drones and related ground control systems with integrated electronic warfare resistance for Western military forces.

8 investors

Odys designs and builds long-range, hybrid-electric VTOL aircraft for defense, logistics, and civil applications. The company's aircraft use flap-based thrust vectoring architecture and serve missions including tactical cargo transport, emergency medical evacuation, and defense operations.

8 investors

Paladin builds autonomous drones and software that dispatch to 911 calls, flying from fire stations to the scene to stream live video and situational details to first responders. It serves public safety and emergency response agencies such as fire departments.

8 investors

Primer builds AI-driven intelligence software that transforms large datasets into actionable insights for decision-making. The platform serves leaders, researchers, and analysts in government, defense, intelligence, and commercial sectors including finance, retail, and life sciences.

8 investors

Reliable develops an autonomous flight control system that automates all phases of aircraft operation—taxi, takeoff, enroute, and landing—by adding high-integrity navigation, precision flight controls, secure communications, radar, and fault-tolerant compute to type-certified aircraft. Its aircraft- and airspace-agnostic system supports remote supervision from a control station for both commercial and military applications.

8 investors

Salient Motion designs and manufactures critical actuation systems for commercial aviation and defense applications. The company combines in-house motion control expertise across software and hardware to offer faster certification and delivery compared to legacy suppliers.

8 investors

Schemata provides AI-powered training and readiness solutions using immersive, photorealistic virtual experiences for equipment and operations training across defense, enterprise, and other demanding sectors. The platform captures subject matter expert guidance, delivers step-by-step AI guidance on equipment, and tracks performance in real-time through dashboards.

8 investors

Scout Space develops technologies for real-time sensing, data processing, and autonomous systems to protect space infrastructure. The company serves space operators and addresses safety and operational challenges in the space economy.

8 investors

Swan provides a modular autonomy platform for autonomous systems to operate in contested environments with degraded or denied GPS/GNSS signals. The platform delivers navigation, sensing, mapping, and precision-targeting capabilities for defense and tactical operations.

8 investors

Swarm Robotics develops autonomous unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) swarms and autonomy software for military and tactical operations. The company provides modular, attritable robotic platforms and control systems designed for command-and-control integration in combat environments.

8 investors

Vantage Robotics designs and manufactures American-made small UAVs (drones), including the pocket-sized Trace nano drone and the Vesper drone, along with a rugged flight controller, for defense, security, and inspection use. Its products offer stabilized EO/IR cameras, encrypted communications, and NDAA-compliant, Blue UAS-cleared manufacturing aimed at government and mission-critical field operators.

8 investors

Voyager Technologies builds defense and space systems, including solid-fuel and electric propulsion, energetics (the only U.S. provider of black powder), radiation-hardened space electronics, guidance and navigation systems, lunar and long-duration spaceflight infrastructure, and signals-intelligence/spectrum-dominance software. It serves U.S. and international government agencies, defense primes, academia, and commercial and civil space programs.

8 investors

Whisper Aero develops electric propulsion technology for aircraft, emphasizing quiet, efficient thrust for urban air mobility and logistics. The company targets aircraft manufacturers and operators seeking next-generation propulsion systems for manned and unmanned vehicles.

8 investors

X-Bow Systems is a non-traditional producer of solid rocket motors that leverages advanced additive manufacturing techniques to deliver customizable, high-performance rocket motors and comprehensive flight test services for defense and space applications.

8 investors

Albacore develops mass-producible long-range drone submarines (Ghostfin platform) designed for military autonomous underwater operations. The systems use commercial off-the-shelf components and advanced propulsion technology to enable extended transit and loiter times, with embedded autonomous navigation and analytics for remote mission execution.

7 investors

Alta Ares builds an AI stack for autonomous air defense and ISTAR, including counter-drone interceptor effectors, an ISR product suite, and mission management software designed for contested, GNSS-denied environments. The company serves allied militaries, with a focus on European and allied defense markets.

7 investors

Andrenam builds an AI-powered distributed maritime sensing network using mass-manufacturable sonar buoys and sensor payloads for persistent undersea awareness from surface to seabed. Its platform detects, tracks, and identifies maritime traffic in real time and integrates with command-and-control systems and autonomous craft for defense and maritime operations.

7 investors

ANELLO Photonics develops silicon photonics-based inertial navigation systems, specifically its SiPhOG platform, which delivers optical gyroscope performance in a chip-scale form factor for GPS-denied environments. The company serves defense, autonomous systems, and commercial markets requiring resilient navigation in contested or GPS-denied conditions across land, air, and sea operations.

7 investors

ARX Robotics develops robotics and sensor systems, with a stated focus on defense applications that protect people and support European sovereignty and security.

7 investors

Aslan builds technology to detect and disrupt online-organized harm such as mass violence, trafficking, and transnational crime by operating within the digital environments where these activities are coordinated. It positions itself as an intervention platform for public safety threats rather than passive external monitoring.

7 investors

Avalanche Energy develops compact fusion technology to generate high-energy neutrons for materials testing, radioisotope production, and advanced nuclear battery systems serving defense, space, and commercial power applications. The company also provides high-voltage vacuum components and operates FusionWERX, a commercial-scale fusion testing facility.

7 investors

BlueSpace.ai is a software company focused on solving perception and prediction challenges in autonomous driving, addressing the "black box" problem in AV systems. Its team consists of autonomous vehicle industry veterans with experience at OEMs, research institutions, and AV companies.

7 investors

Citra develops modular sensing and software solutions for detecting, tracking, and identifying orbiting objects in space. The company serves space operators and stakeholders requiring situational awareness for safe and sustainable space operations.

7 investors

Conductor AI builds the Conduit platform, which ingests complex policy documents and encodes expert processes into AI-powered agentic workflows for document review, approval, agentic search, and redaction. It serves defense, intelligence, US government civilian, and commercial customers for tasks such as ITAR/export control compliance, e-discovery, FOIA review, and security classification, and is deployed in secure environments with FedRAMP High accreditation.

7 investors