Mara raises $7M for backpack-sized drone interceptors priced against cheap FPV threats

San Francisco startup Mara raised $7 million in pre-seed funding to build Spike, a portable counter-drone system carried in a backpack. The system pairs a launcher holding up to 48 lightweight 250-gram Seeker interceptors with a Spotter sensor unit that fuses optical, acoustic and optional radar detection to track fiber-optic and autonomous drones that evade radio-frequency jammers. Mara says each Seeker costs roughly the same as the sub-$1,000 FPV quadcopters it's meant to destroy, undercutting rival interceptors by a claimed 20-fold margin.