Furientis, a one-year-old startup building mass-producible interceptor missiles, raised $25 million in a seed round led by Benchmark at a $125 million valuation. The company previously raised $5 million in a pre-seed round in May and has already secured a funded Pentagon contract to build mid-range interceptors. Co-founders Brody Franzen and Aris Simsarian bring backgrounds from Virgin Galactic, Castelion, and Virgin Orbit.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-06
Protego Ventures, a two-year-old Israeli venture firm led by Lital Leshem and Lee Moser, has closed its first fund at $125 million, below its original $150 million target. The firm invests $5 million to $50 million per company in defense and security startups, with drone maker XTEND—now public on the NYSE—as its flagship investment. Ares Management backed the fund with $30 million as a limited partner.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-29
Defense startup Covenant announced it has emerged from stealth mode with $250 million raised across three funding rounds, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Lux, 8VC, Aleph and Lightspeed. The company opened a 105,000-square-foot factory in Dallas to build its Anthem long-range cruise missiles, aiming to produce 1,000 units in the first year starting in early 2027 and scaling to 5,000 annually.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-09
GoPro has agreed to be acquired by Starman Optical for $285 million, with shareholders receiving $1.14 per share and retaining roughly 10% of the combined company. The deal, expected to close by year-end, will eliminate GoPro's $92 million in debt and keep the company publicly traded. It follows earlier signals that GoPro was exploring a shift toward defense technology, and comes just after YouTuber Markiplier disclosed an 8.5% stake in the company.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-01
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