Xcout IntelWho funds defense tech
The venture firms, corporates and government-linked funds named in the funding rounds of defense technology startups over the last 24 months, ranked by how many different defense companies each one backed. Every company in every list links to the article or filing the round came from.
Venture investors, by defense companies backed
Venture, growth, private-equity and crossover investors named in at least two defense startups’ rounds. a16z’s funds (speedrun, crypto, growth, bio + health) are counted as a16z and Point72’s arms as Point72. Ties are ordered by rounds named in.
| # | Investor | Companies backed | Rounds named in | Led | Companies, with the round’s source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andreessen HorowitzUnited States | 7 | 9 | 2 |
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| 2 | General CatalystUnited States | 7 | 7 | 4 |
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| 3 | Washington Harbour PartnersUnited States | 6 | 9 | 4 |
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| 4 | 8VCUnited States | 6 | 7 | 3 |
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| 5 | Lightspeed Venture PartnersUnited States | 4 | 5 | 1 |
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| 6 | LakestarSwitzerland | 4 | 4 | 1 |
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| 7 | OTB VenturesPoland | 4 | 4 | 1 |
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| 8 | StepstoneUnited States | 4 | 4 | — |
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| 9 | T. Rowe PriceUnited States | 4 | 4 | 1 |
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| 10 | Sequoia CapitalUnited States | 3 | 6 | 2 |
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| 11 | Point72 VenturesUnited States | 3 | 4 | 1 |
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| 12 | AltimeterUnited States | 3 | 3 | — |
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| 13 | Coinvest CapitalLithuania | 3 | 3 | 2 |
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| 14 | DFJ GrowthUnited States | 3 | 3 | 2 |
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| 15 | Draper AssociatesUnited States | 3 | 3 | 1 |
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| 16 | Geodesic CapitalUnited States | 3 | 3 | 1 |
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| 17 | Iron Wolf CapitalLithuania | 3 | 3 | 1 |
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| 18 | Kinetica | 3 | 3 | 1 |
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| 19 | Lux CapitalUnited States | 3 | 3 | — |
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| 20 | Protego VenturesIsrael | 3 | 3 | 1 |
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| 21 | Shield CapitalUnited States | 3 | 3 | 1 |
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| 22 | Spark CapitalUnited States | 3 | 3 | 1 |
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| 23 | Trousdale Ventures LLCUnited States | 3 | 3 | 1 |
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| 24 | Forward Deployed VC | 2 | 4 | — |
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| 25 | 2i Ventures | 2 | 3 | — |
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| 26 | Center15 Capital | 2 | 3 | — |
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| 27 | Expeditions Fund | 2 | 3 | 1 |
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| 28 | Human CapitalUnited States | 2 | 3 | 2 |
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| 29 | HV CapitalGermany | 2 | 3 | 2 |
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| 30 | Khosla VenturesUnited States | 2 | 3 | 1 |
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Andreessen Horowitz
Anduril
Saronic
Hadrian Automation
General Catalyst
Helsing
Castelion
Washington Harbour Partners
Epirus
Apex
Firestorm Labs
8VC
Gallatin AI
Lightspeed Venture Partners
K2 Space
Lakestar
Cambridge Aerospace
UFORCE
Tytan Technologies
Alta Ares
MatrixSpace
T. Rowe Price
Sequoia Capital
Mach Industries
Neros
Kela Technologies
Point72 Ventures
OVERLAND AI
CX2
Rune Technologies
Altimeter
Coinvest Capital
Unmanned Defense Systems
Monopulse
PDKINEMATICS
DFJ Growth
Hidden Level
Draper Associates
Venus Aerospace
Aurelius Systems
Darkhive
Geodesic Capital
Vatn Systems
Turion Space
Iron Wolf Capital
Buntar Aerospace
LINE5
Esh-Tech Systems
Lux Capital
Protego Ventures
XTEND
Asio Technologies
Shield Capital
Reveal Technology
Spark Capital
Air Space Intelligence
CesiumAstro
2i Ventures
Remondo
Center15 Capital
Comand AI
Sky Spy
Human Capital
Onebrief
HV Capital
Quantum Systems
ARX Robotics
Khosla Ventures
Adyton PBC30 more firms backed two defense companies.
Corporate and government-linked investors
Defense primes’ and other corporations’ venture arms, banks, and government-linked funds (In-Q-Tel, the NATO Innovation Fund, national development banks), kept apart from the venture table. At least two companies backed.
| # | Investor | Type | Companies backed | Rounds named in | Led | Companies, with the round’s source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Booz Allen VenturesUnited States | Corporate | 4 | 5 | — |
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| 2 | Lockheed Martin VenturesUnited States | Corporate | 3 | 4 | 1 |
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| 3 | NATO Innovation FundNetherlands | Government-linked | 3 | 4 | 1 |
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| 4 | AirbusNetherlands | Corporate | 3 | 3 | 1 |
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| 5 | SAICUnited States | Corporate | 2 | 3 | — |
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| 6 | British Business BankUnited Kingdom | Government-linked | 2 | 2 | — |
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| 7 | JPMorganUnited States | Corporate | 2 | 2 | — |
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| 8 | Ondas | Corporate | 2 | 2 | 1 |
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Fortem Technologies
Airbus
SAIC
HavocAI
British Business Bank
JPMorgan
PDW HoldingsThe largest defense startup rounds
The ten largest rounds in the window by disclosed amount. A row marked SEC Form D is a filing with no press-reported round beside it.
| Company | Round | Amount | Date | Led by (where reported) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anduril | Series H | $5.0B | 13 May 2026 | Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital | anduril.com |
| Anduril | Series G | $2.5B | 5 Jun 2025 | Founders Fund | builtin.com |
| Shield AI | Series G | $2.0B | 26 Mar 2026 | Advent International | siliconangle.com |
| Helsing | Series E | $2.0B | 12 Jul 2026 | — | news.google.com |
| Saronic | Series D | $1.8B | 31 Mar 2026 | Elad Gil, Kleiner Perkins | bizjournals.com |
| Hadrian Automation | — | $1.4B | 6 Aug 2026 | T. Rowe Price | marketscreener.com |
| Quantum Systems | Series D | $1.2B | 2 Jul 2026 | Advent, Airbus, Blackstone, Noteus | news.google.com |
| Cognitive Network Solutions | — | $1.0B | 1 May 2026 | — | bloomberg.com |
| Castelion | — | $1.0B | 13 Aug 2026 | Andreessen Horowitz, Carlyle Group, JPMorgan Chase Co. Strategic Investment Group, JPMorganChase's Strategic Investment Group | news.google.com |
| Mach Industries | Series C extension | $600M | 10 Sept 2026 | Bedrock, Infinite Capital Partners LLC, Ribbit Capital, Sequoia Capital | techcrunch.com |
Shield AI
Cognitive Network SolutionsIsrael
Defense startups headquartered in Israel, plus two founded there whose headquarters moved (XTEND, Heven AeroTech). State-owned primes (Israel Aerospace Industries, Rafael) and listed companies (Elbit) are outside the funding count.
Rounds
| Company | Round | Amount | Date | Investors named | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Lander | Series A | $16M | 22 Oct 2026 | Edge Ventures, Kinetica, Protego Ventures, Step Venture | geektime.co.il |
| AITAN | — | $41M | 2 Sept 2026 | Deep33, Dell Technologies Capital | news.google.com |
| X Cornet | SAFE | $3M | 4 Aug 2026 | Aerodrome | news.google.com |
| Asio Technologies | — | $15M | 20 Jul 2026 | Aliya Capital Partners, Mitsubishi Electric, Protego Ventures | jpost.com |
| Esh-Tech Systems | Series A | $18M | 6 Jul 2026 | 2i Ventures, Capital Q® Ventures Inc., FFGベンチャービジネスパートナーズ, Israel Innovation Authority, Kinetica, Mahari, Renaton Capital | linkedin.com |
| Kela Technologies | — | $200M | 5 May 2026 | D1 Capital Partners, Lux Capital, Sequoia Capital | en.globes.co.il |
| Tenna Systems | Seed | $14M | 1 Feb 2026 | 202 Ventures, Costanoa, Fresh Fund, Viola Ventures | thedefensecircuit.com |
| Remondo | Seed | $20M | 1 Feb 2026 | 10D, 2i Ventures, ACE Ventures, ARABSAT, British Business Bank, Chartered Group, National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), Starburst Ventures, VentureIsrael | linkedin.com |
| XTEND | Series B | $30M | 15 Jul 2025 | Aliya Capital Partners, Protego Ventures | calcalistech.com |
| ELSIGHT | — | $39M | 1 Jul 2025 | — | finder.startupnationcentral.org |
| LINE5 | Seed | $20M | 21 May 2025 | Kinetica, NFX | battlepolicy.com |
| Kela Technologies | — | $100M | 15 May 2025 | — | calcalist.co.il |
| Remondo | Seed | — | 4 Apr 2025 | 10D, 2i Ventures, ACE Ventures, Chartered Group, Starburst Ventures, VentureIsrael | ivc-online.com |
| Kela Technologies | Series A | $28M | 16 Mar 2025 | — | linkedin.com |
Tenna SystemsA round shown without an amount did not disclose one.
Who funds them
Israeli venture firms
- Protego Ventures · Israel3
- 10D · Israel1
- Fresh Fund · Israel1
- VentureIsrael · Israel1
- Viola Ventures · Israel1
5 investors in all; companies backed shown.
Foreign venture firms
- Kinetica3
- 2i Ventures2
- Aliya Capital Partners · United States2
- 202 Ventures1
- ACE Ventures1
- Aerodrome1
- Capital Q® Ventures Inc. · United States1
- Chartered Group · Singapore1
- Costanoa · United States1
- D1 Capital Partners · United States1
- Deep331
- Edge Ventures1
21 investors in all; companies backed shown.
Corporate and government
- ARABSAT · Saudi Arabia1
- British Business Bank · United Kingdom1
- Dell Technologies Capital · United States1
- Israel Innovation Authority · Israel1
- Mitsubishi Electric · Japan1
5 investors in all; companies backed shown.
A firm counts as Israeli when its profile places its headquarters in Israel; firms whose country we do not hold are counted as foreign.
Israeli investors in defense, anywhere
| Investor | Defense companies | In Israel | Abroad | Companies, with the round’s source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protego Ventures | 3 | 3 | 0 |
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| 10D | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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| Entree Capital | 1 | 0 | 1 |
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| Fresh Fund | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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| Israel Innovation Authority | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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| VentureIsrael | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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| Viola Ventures | 1 | 1 | 0 |
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Easy AerialHiring at Israeli defense companies
New job postings per week that we read on the companies’ own career sites, at 20 of the 79 Israeli defense companies we follow (primes included). 3 whose career site we only started reading inside the window are left out, so a first read is not shown as a hiring jump. This is a thin signal: most Israeli defense recruiting does not go through the career boards we read, so read the shape, not the level.
Most postings in the last eight weeks: Heven AeroTech (21), Elbit Systems (17), IAI (9), ImageSat International (3), DRS RADA Technologies (2).
Heven AeroTech
Elbit Systems
IAI
ImageSat International
DRS RADA TechnologiesShare this insight
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How we count
Which companies
The companies in our defense landscape, sorted into its categories by a classifier reading each company’s description. Prime contractors and government-services firms (109) and listed companies (125) are left out of the counts here; they stay in the landscape. Membership is a classifier’s decision, checked by hand on samples, not a registry.
Which rounds
Funding rounds announced in the 24 months to the edition date, after merging articles about the same round (45 days), and without debt, fund raises and unverified single-source megarounds. An SEC Form D filed beside a press-reported round is the same round and is not counted twice.
Which investors
An investor counts for a company when a round in the window names it. Names are matched to one firm across spellings (a16z, Andreessen Horowitz). A link we have judged to belong to a different company of the same name is dropped. “Led” counts only rounds whose reporting names a lead.
What not to read into it
This is not a count of deals, and not a full portfolio: rounds without a reported investor list are invisible to it. No revenue multiple is given, because no source we can cite publishes one. The valuation figure covers only rounds of $100M or more that disclosed one, and gives n.
Cite as
Xcout Intel, Who funds defense tech, edition 5 Nov 2026. Data: intel.xcout.app/insights/defense-investors?edition=2026-11-05.
Sources, and what is missing
Every company link above opens the article or filing its round came from. The check set is 54 defense rounds reported in the press, each with a source. These 24 are reported but not yet in our round data, or held with a different date or amount — the firms that backed them may be undercounted here:
K2 Space (Feb 2025, $110M) · Saronic (Feb 2025, $600M) · Shield AI (Mar 2025, $240M) · Allen Control Systems (Mar 2025, $30M) · Apex (Apr 2025, $200M) · True Anomaly (Apr 2025, $260M) · CHAOS Industries (May 2025, $275M) · Tekever (May 2025) · X-Bow Systems (May 2025, $105M) · Saildrone (May 2025, $60M) · Applied Intuition (Jun 2025, $600M) · Helsing (Jun 2025, $694M) · Cambridge Aerospace (Jul 2025, $100M) · Blue Water Autonomy (Aug 2025, $50M) · Auterion (Sept 2025, $130M) · Govini (Oct 2025, $150M) · CHAOS Industries (Nov 2025, $510M) · Heven AeroTech (Dec 2025, $100M) · K2 Space (Dec 2025, $250M) · Harmattan AI (Jan 2026, $200M) · Overland AI (Feb 2026) · Skydio (Apr 2026, $110M) · True Anomaly (Apr 2026, $650M) · Scout AI (Apr 2026, $100M)
Quoting these figures
Free to quote, chart and report on, with attribution: Source: Xcout Intel Who funds defense tech (intel.xcout.app/insights/defense-investors). Reproducing a chart or table needs a link back to this page. Full terms are on the attribution page; how the data is collected is on the methodology page.
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