KEF Robotics’ Post

Speed, Scale, Affordable, Non-Traditional, Unprecedent... These are only part of the words describe the decision of the United States Air Force to select Anduril Industries for Collaborative Combat Aircraft Program 💫 Why it matters: It signals that there is openness for startups (even though Anduril is much more than a startup today…) to participate and lead super challenging programs of defense. 💫 Why it matters 2: It means the United States Department of Defense really changed its attitude towards startups and they can compete versus the giant defense manufacturers. 💫 What’s next: we’ll see more startups lead defense challenges and wind tenders. 💫 What’s in it: The speed, innovation and price will dominate the market and the cutting edge technologies will be held by the US and its allies as long as they will keep their minds open and let in startups and dual use technology. 💫 Dive deeper: Anduril Industries announcement - https://lnkd.in/d99GdmCe - kudos 👏🏻 🏆

Interesting read regarding the Navy and their pursuit for uncrewed vessels, both surface and underwater. Not malicious, but the report depicts the slow process that exists within the big names of defense. There is a reason why DoD has decided to invest in Defense Tech startups and instituted the Replicator program to avoid the 3-5 year programtic stalls and delays. Deterrence requires innovation and speed of Aquisition. America cannot simply rely on the major Primes. American startup innovation within the Defense sector has proven agile enough to solve the tough problems.

Menlo’s partnership with Dedrone dates back to May 2016 when we led their $10 million Series A. Venky Ganesan joined the board and had a front-row seat as founder Jörg Lamprecht and CEO Aaditya (AD) D. grew the company from a small startup to an industry leader with customers in 35 countries spanning the military, government, and private sectors. Their world-class team built an exceptional product, and today, Dedrone is considered the global leader in counter-drone technology. - Last month, the Department of Homeland Security named Dedrone the only counter-drone company acknowledged under the SAFETY Act in April. - CNBC named Dedrone to its Disruptor 50 list of 50 most innovative venture-backed companies. - Dedrone was named to the Silicon Valley Defense Group NatSec 100 - Fast Company honored Dedrone and named it one of the Most Innovative Companies in the security sector You can read more about our partnership with Dedrone in this post from Venky Ganesan - https://lnkd.in/gMRRb7aE

Shield AI, a defense technology company, raised its valuation to $2.8B with additional capital in Series F funding, which now stands at an impressive $500M. The tech startup is aiming to build the world’s first AI pilot for the U.S. military and its allies. The new funding will take it closer to achieving this goal. According to Ryan Tseng, Shield AI’s CEO and Co-Founder, AI pilots are “becoming a strategic conventional deterrent in class with our aircraft carriers and guided missile submarines”. Interestingly, this is the first software-defined strategic deterrent, which has only been possible with the recent advances in AI technology and compute power. Tsend believes that the AI pilot would be a huge paradigm shift for the aerospace and defense industry. The new funding for Shield AI includes equity and debt. There is $100 million in equity raised at Series F price and $200 million in debt. The debt provider is Hercules Capital, while the identity of the equity provider has not been revealed by Shield AI.

To Create. To Make. To Shape. 🚀 Exciting announcement from Saab about the launch of #Skapa, where innovation takes the lead in developing cutting-edge solutions for #defence and national #security. This initiative exemplifies how organisations should tackle the unprecedented demand for groundbreaking solutions amid global geopolitical competition and rising costs. As a dual-use technology startup, we look up to incubators that focus on driving innovation and bringing the brightest minds together to solve complex problems - empowering our #ArmedForces at the speed of relevance with impactful new capabilities that are insightful and sustainable. 👉 https://lnkd.in/dfDdrSSF #Saab #DefenceInnovation #MilitaryTechnology

If you're involved with drones (who isn't?) then this is for you: PROTRACK, together with eyesAtop and Realtime Robotics invite any person involved with drone-assisted work in any field to witness first-hand our all-in-one, super-compact, simple, field-operated system which allows (breath in...): Realtime/offline monitoring, on-the-fly mapping, object detection and classification, AI video analytics, surveillance, tracking, geo-reference, POI planning, change detection, video anchoring, GNSS-free positioning (and some more...). This proven, military-grade system can be used for (breath in again...): Fire and smoke detection, railroad safety, military ISR, deliveries, traffic control, perimeter protection, critical infrastructure security, agriculture, solar panel maintenance, border protection and almost any other drone-assisted operation there is and will be. You should definitely be there. The event is free to attend, registration link is in the first comment. #protrackIsrael #droneoperation #videoanchoring #GNSSfreepositioning

We are thrilled to announce that KMB has been accepted into Vector, the Department of Defense's startup accelerator. Run by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) through the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) program office, Vector is designed to give startups like ours an intensive crash course on how to pursue business opportunities with the government. The timing is perfect as we begin to commercialize our Point Cloud Radar™️, which offers world-class capabilities found in no other radar, including the ability to detect stationary and hovering drones, even while the radar is in motion. This solution has a key role to play in enabling DoD counter-UAS mission outcomes that we see reported in the news every day. We have the technical expertise, and DIU is DoD's office dedicated to rapidly prototyping and fielding commercial technologies that solve operational challenges for the military at speed and scale. We’re excited to participate and learn from the experts at DIU how we get our technology in front of the warfighter. Stay tuned for more updates as we embark on this incredible journey! #NSIN #DIU #Vector #DoD #Innovation #StartupAccelerator #DroneDetection #RadarTechnology #DefenseInnovation #GovernmentOpportunities

🚀 Defense Department's Replicator Program Aims for Greater Speed 🚀 Greetings, Eminent Community! The Defense Department's Replicator Program is on a mission to accelerate its pace and efficiency. This initiative plays a crucial role in fostering innovation and staying at the forefront of defense technology. Explore the efforts to enhance the Replicator Program's speed and effectiveness, ultimately reinforcing the Department's capabilities. Learn more about this ambitious endeavor in the full article: 📰 https://lnkd.in/epMJtcTY Join the conversation about innovation in defense technology and the importance of agility and rapid progress. 💬 #EminentFuture #DefenseDepartment #ReplicatorProgram #Innovation #DefenseTechnology #RapidProgress