MENLO TIMES

Castelion , a cutting-edge defense technology company working to restore America's conventional deterrence capability, led by Bryon Hargis, Sean Pitt, Andrew Kreitz, and others, has secured  $350 million in Series B financing led by Altimeter Capital  and Lightspeed Venture Partners , with participation from Lavrock Ventures , Andreessen Horowitz , General Catalyst , First In , Space VC , Cantos , BlueYard , Avenir , Champion Hill , and Interlagos . The capital raise supports

Ultraviolette , the world's most advanced EV platforms, led by Narayan Subramanian and Niraj Rajmohan, has secured  $45 million as part of its ongoing Series E round. The latest infusion comes from leading Indian technology company Zoho Corporation  and Lingotto , one of Europe's largest investment management companies. The continued momentum in Ultraviolette Automotive’s Series E round underscores strong investor confidence in its growth trajectory and global ambitions. With

Shield AI , a deeptech company protecting service members and civilians with intelligent systems, led by Gary Steele, Ryan Tseng, ex-Navy Seal Brandon Tseng, Nathan Michael, and others, and Sedaro , powering the future of aerospace & defense with mission simulation at scale, led by Daniel Martin, Robbie Robertson, PhD, and others, have announced  a strategic partnership to advance autonomous operations in orbit. The partnership designates Shield AI’s Hivemind Pilot as the pri

Ricursive Intelligence , the first frontier AI lab addressing the most fundamental constraint in AI progress: chip development timelines that can’t keep up with algorithmic advancement, led by Anna Goldie and Azalia Mirhoseini, announced  its launch and a $35 million seed funding round led by Sequoia Capital( Stephanie Zhan ), along with other investors, including Modern Capital( Suhail Nimji , Jennifer Campbell ), 49Palms( Madhavan Ramanujam , Joshua Bloom ), and Striker ( M

Moonshot Space , an Israeli startup building an affordable, on-demand delivery system for space infrastructure, led by Hilla Haddad Chmelnik, Fred Simon, and Shahar Bahiri, has emerged  from stealth with $12 million in funding to continue the development of a launch system, powered by electromagnetism. Moonshot plans to offer A&D primes its technology as a hypersonic test platform, while progressively developing capabilities to provide orbital launch services for companies se

Antares , building purpose-designed modular power for defense-critical assets, led by Jordan Bramble  and  Julia DeWahl , has secured $96 million in Series B led by Shine Capital  with participation from Alt Capital , Caffeinated , 53 Stations , Industrious Ventures , and others. The capital provides the momentum and discipline needed to achieve a milestone not seen in the United States for decades: the ability to design, build, and test nuclear reactors within a few years ra

Synopsys , the leader in engineering solutions from silicon to systems, enabling customers to rapidly innovate AI-powered products, led by Sassine Ghazi, Shelagh Glaser, Ravi Subramanian, Shankar Krishnamoorthy, and others, announced  an expanded, strategic partnership to revolutionize design and engineering across industries. R&D teams across sectors, from semiconductors to aerospace, automotive, and industrial, face growing workflow complexity, rising development costs, and

Spaceium , building a network of in-space refueling and repair stations, led by Ashi Dissanayake and Reza Fetanat, launched  its first in-space demonstration hardware, a precision robotic actuator for autonomous propellant transfer in orbit on SpaceX’s Transporter-15 mission, hosted aboard D-orbit’s ION spacecraft. Spaceium was founded to make in-space refueling a reality. Orbital fuel replenishment is the key to unlocking a larger, more sustainable space economy. For decades

Marble Imaging , the Earth Observation Data & Insights company, led by Robert Hook, Dr. Gopika Suresh, and Alexander Epp, has secured  a €5.3 million seed round led by HTGF. In addition, Marble has attracted a strong group of further investors who share the mission, including BAB Beteiligungs- und Management-gesellschaft Bremen mbH (BBM) , Lightfield Equity,  Oslo Venture Company ,  nwk | nwu Beteiligungsgesellschaften der Sparkasse Bremen ,  Sentris Capital ,  Auxxo Female C

Gravis Robotics , the earthmoving autonomy platform, led by Ryan Luke Johns, Dominic Jud, Marco Tranzatto, Burak Cizmeci, and Neil Woodfin, has secured $23M co-led by IQ Capital  and Zacua Ventures , with Pear VC , Imad (CVC of Nesma & Partners), Sunna Ventures , Armada Investment  and Holcim. Gravis systems are already in use with major construction and quarry operators, including Holcim, enabling autonomous site prep, stockpile management, and material loading. The company

Quantum Systems , transforming decision-making processes through aerial data intelligence, led by Florian Seibel, Sven Kruck, and Dave Sharpin, has secured  €180 million in a Series C Extension led by Balderton Capital, following its €160 million Series C in May this year, bringing the total amount secured in 2025 to €340 million, which marks the largest private capital raise in Europe’s dual-use sector. This values the company above €3 billion. Quantum Systems has establishe

IQM , a global leader in building superconducting quantum computers, led by Dr. Jan Goetz, Dr. Mikko Välimäki, Dr. Juha Vartiainen, Sylwia Barthel de Weydenthal, Jan Kuerschner, and others, announced  an over €40 million investment to expand its state-of-the-art production facility in Finland. The expansion will accelerate the development, fabrication, and testing of advanced quantum processing units, as well as the assembly of full quantum computers, laying the foundation fo

BlackSky , accelerating earth observation from space for real-time monitoring, led by Brian O’Toole, Henry Dubois, Chris Lin, Lyn Chassagne, Nick Merski, Patrick O’Neil, and Kevin Rioles, has delivered  the first very high-resolution  images  from the company’s third  Gen-3  satellite less than 24   hours following the satellite’s successful launch in November. The company’s advanced, low-latency commercial architecture is providing decision-grade data at real-time, mission-r

PowerUP , developing and producing high-quality and sustainable energy generation products, led by Ivar Kruusenberg, Marit Riis, Kush Chadha, and Henri Kaar, has secured  a €10 million Series A funding round co-led by dual-use venture firms Mercaton and  ScaleWolf  and joined by Estonia’s SmartCap Green Fund  (funded by the European Union’s Next Generation EU), with strong participation from existing investors. The core of PowerUP’s strategy is a dual-use mission: providing r

Maritime Fusion , building a first-of-a-kind fusion reactor for marine and off-grid applications, led by Justin Cohen and Jason Kaufmann, has secured  $4.5 million in seed funding led by Trucks VC , with participation from Paul Graham, Aera VC , Alumni Ventures , Y Combinator , and others. The HTS magnet lab in San Francisco is now operational, enabling rapid testing of prototype cables and magnets. A recent bench test carried 5 kA through the SHIELD HTS cable using liquid ni

Orbit Fab , building in-space fuel delivery infrastructure, led by Daniel Faber, Shawn Hendricks, and others, has announced  its latest milestone toward refuelling satellites in orbit. The company will deliver the Advancing Satcom Technology with Refuelling and Logistics (ASTRAL) project with a total UK funding of up to $3.8m (€3.3m). The contract for the first stage of the mission, worth £1.3m (€1.1m), has now been awarded to Orbit Fab by ESA’s Advanced Research in Telecommu

Redwire , a global leader in space and defense technology solutions, led by Peter Cannito, Jonathan Baliff, Al Tadros, and others, has been awarded  a $44 million phase 2 contract to advance the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA)  Otter  Very Low Earth Orbit ( VLEO ) mission to demonstrate the world’s first air-breathing spacecraft and advance next-generation orbital capabilities. The Phase 2 contract funds the completion of manufacturing and the delivery of

Point One Navigation , a leader in high-precision location technology, led by Aaron Nathan, Mike Kurdziel, Karen Leineweber, and Ryan Dougherty, has announced  a $35 million Series C oversubscribed funding round led by  Khosla Ventures , with participation from existing investors including IA Ventures , UP Partners , and Alumni Ventures .  The capital will drive infrastructure expansion, accelerate software innovation, and advance OEM integration, while also enabling team gro

NcodiN , the deep-tech startup pioneering optical interposer technology with integrated nanolasers, led by Francesco Manegatti, Bruno Garbin, Fabrice Raineri, Yacine Halioua, and Carlo Guareschi, has secured  €16 million in an oversubscribed Seed financing round led by MIG Capital , with participation from Maverick Silicon , PhotonVentures , and Verve Ventures , alongside continued support from existing backers Elaia , Earlybird , and OVNI . To strengthen its foundation, Ncod

Zap Energy , building a seriously cheap, compact, scalable fusion energy technology, led by Benj Conway, Brian A. Nelson, and Uri Shumlak, has achieved  plasmas with electron pressures as high as 830 megapascals (MPa), or 1.6 gigapascals (GPa) total, comparable to the pressures found deep below Earth’s crust. The results are the highest-pressure performance to date in a  sheared-flow-stabilized Z pinch  and an important marker on the path to scientific energy gain, or Q>1. Fu