Ukrainian-founded drone maker UFORCE raises $700 million at $6 billion valuation
UFORCE, a defense technology company founded in Ukraine and headquartered in London, said on November 12 that it has raised $700 million in a Series A round, valuing it at $6 billion. The company said the money will go toward more production of drones and autonomous defense systems for Ukraine and allied countries.
The round was led jointly by Valor Equity Partners and the UK's National Wealth Fund, with the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund also participating. Menlo Ventures, Xantium and Hiro Capital joined as investors. According to DroneXL, Shield Capital, Ballistic Ventures, Lakestar and Squadra, which were already shareholders, raised their holdings.
The British fund put in £113 million ($150 million), which DroneXL described as its largest defense investment so far. The fund is wholly owned by the UK Treasury. It said its equity will pay for British production of MV7 and MV11 boats and Nemesis systems, with more than 70% of the content of each UK-built boat to come from British suppliers.
Oliver Holbourn, chief executive of the National Wealth Fund, said the expansion would bring the building, engineering and use of combat-tested autonomous systems to Britain. He said it would create skilled jobs and strengthen British supply chains. The government's announcement promises "hundreds of high-skilled jobs" and apprenticeships but gives no job count, according to DroneXL.
Products and production plans
UFORCE builds autonomous systems for air, land and sea, together with software to control them. Its lineup includes MAGURA uncrewed surface vessels, NEMESIS aerial strike drones, LIUT ground robots and PREDATOR counter-drone turrets.
UFORCE said its NEMESIS systems have carried out more than 300,000 combat flights and serve more than 100 Ukrainian military units. It also said its MAGURA vessels helped destroy more than a dozen Russian warships. DRONELIFE noted that the company reported these figures itself and that they have not been independently verified.
The company emerged from stealth mode on March 5, when Shield Capital and Lakestar led its first financing. DroneXL, citing CNBC, put that round at $50 million and a valuation near $1 billion, so the new round is roughly 14 times larger. According to DroneXL, Rogynskyy told CNBC that the company's bookings more than doubled in the past year and that it declined offers at higher valuations.
UFORCE plans to spread manufacturing across the United States, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East. The company said this would help keep output going despite continued attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure, and would let allied nations build their own capacity. In the US, it recently announced a partnership with ReconCraft to produce MAGURA vessels, and it plans to adapt existing maritime and automotive factories in allied countries for defense work.
“This investment will help us scale production for Ukraine and bring to allies solutions they can field, integrate and sustain at the speed of modern combat.”
Government and board ties
Money from the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund is earmarked for staffing, research and product development inside Ukraine. Conor Coleman, who heads investments at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, spoke for the fund and described the deal as "URIF's largest investment in the emerging technology sector to date."
Retired U.S. Army General Christopher Cavoli, a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe and now a partner at Valor, is joining UFORCE's board. DroneXL reported that former UK defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace also sits on the board, which is chaired by former Ukrainian prime minister Oleksiy Honcharuk.
“Ukraine has shown the world how quickly battlefield innovation can move when engineers work side by side with the people who rely on their systems.”
DroneXL pointed out that no UK factory or boat order is named in either the British government's statement or the company's release. None of the three announcements mentions a US contract either. The outlet had reported on October 11 that UFORCE was seeking $500 million at roughly a $5 billion valuation.
On the day of the announcement, UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting piloted a UFORCE MV7 boat remotely from the carrier HMS Prince of Wales in Oslo, while the vessel was more than 1,500 miles away near Portugal, DroneXL reported. Streeting said Britain "has gone from training Ukraine to being trained by Ukraine." According to UFORCE's specification page, cited by DroneXL, the MV7 is 7.8 meters long, has a top speed of about 39 knots and a range of about 800 nautical miles.
