Local defense tech firm Shield AI – builder of AI pilots for aircraft – announced it has raised $200 million in Series F funding, skyrocketing the company’s valuation to $2.7 billion.
The oversubscribed funding round was led by the U.S. Innovative Technology Fund (USIT), a private defense-industry investment fund, and co-led by Riot Ventures, with participation from Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest and returning investors Disruptive and Snowpoint.
President& Co-Founder
Shield AI
“We’re building the world’s best AI pilot to ensure air superiority and deter conflict because we believe the greatest victory requires no war,” said Brandon Tseng, Shield AI’s president, co-founder and former U.S. Navy SEAL. “This funding accelerates the scaling of Shield AI’s products, enabling the deployment of intelligent, affordable mass – the most important non-nuclear deterrent for the next 30 years.”
Shield AI plans to use the new funding to accelerate tech integration with third-party uncrewed platforms, and both scale and deploy its V-BAT Teams products domestically and globally. Its V-BAT vertical takeoff and landing drone aircraft is fully deployable by a two-person team that the company says can fit in the back of a pickup truck or a Blackhawk helicopter.
Increasing Number of Conflicts Driving AI Pilot Adoption
“The increasing number of military conflicts we have seen over the last 18 months unfortunately paints a sobering view of our future defense technology needs and the important role AI will play,” said Thomas Tull, chairman of USIT. “Shield AI continues to be a pioneer in this sector, driving much-needed innovation by developing state-of-the-art AI pilots. We are proud to continue supporting their mission as they leverage these cutting-edge technologies to deter conflict before it begins.”
Chairman
USIT
Shield AI’s tech was recently deployed to support Israel in its war with Hamas. Per the company’s LinkedIn, its Nova 2 small-scale drone aircraft were, “chosen on day one for immediate use and performed in one of the most complex and modern battlespaces against ruthless terrorists… Our mission is to protect service members and civilians with AI systems. We’re proud of what our products have done for Israel in the past couple of weeks.” The Nova 2 uses computer vision algorithms to autonomously navigate subterranean and multi-story buildings to execute missions without GPS, communications or a human pilot.
The company’s aircraft are directed by its Hivemind AI Pilot technology that reads and reacts to the battlefield, adapting to a range of missions like integrated air defense breach, so-called SCUD missile hunting, zone reconnaissance, counter-air, beyond-visual-range strike, maritime domain awareness and communications-contested operations, Shield AI says. The company’s “Batcave” is reportedly capable of producing 1,000 V-BATs a year.
“AI pilots enable teams of aircraft to autonomously maneuver in contested environments that are too dangerous for humans and where GPS and comms-dependent unmanned systems can’t operate,” Tseng said in March. “From a scalability standpoint, AI Pilots can finally decouple manpower from airpower, enabling crewed and unmanned aircraft teams to transform air combat power. AI Pilots will have strategic implications and may achieve the ultimate goal – deter war.”
Technology’s Capabilities Impress DoD
The tech is undoubtedly head-turning, but the company needs to hold the Pentagon’s attention if it wants to win high-dollar contracts in the highly competitive government-funding landscape. A few months ago, it took Department of Defense (DoD) clients to the remote Devils Lake in North Dakota to demonstrate its Hivemind-powered V-BAT drone capabilities. “[They] truly appreciated that this isn’t just talk or mere computer simulations; it’s real and will soon be operational in theatres near you,” the company shared.
Shield AI reported that the demonstration marked a final milestone in showcasing autonomous innovation efforts under AFWERX, a U.S. Air Force innovation program under the Strategic Funding Increase (STRATFI) program, in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Sensors Directorate.
Following the new Series F funding announcement, the company shared in part on social media, “Our champions in DoD could have taken easier routes and worked with established primes, but they believed there was a better way to support the warfighter…These stakeholders wanted to do things differently and took a chance on Shield AI. This is why we work relentlessly to make our teammates, investors, and DoD customers proud of their decision to choose Shield AI.”
In another November post, the company wrote that since 2019, its V-BAT has successfully completed 17 operational deployments (average of six months) afloat, supporting the Navy and Marine Corps team. It’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) on the deployments was reportedly a score of 57 – above the 50-score threshold, which generally indicates a good product. “The number of operational deployments (3-12 months) and customer NPS is a great way for the DoD to discern if a product is useful, valuable, and proven,” the company wrote. “If both of these numbers are high, then it’s likely a great capability.”
Tseng launched Shield AI in San Diego in 2015 with the help of his brother, Co-founder and CEO Ryan Tseng, and Co-founder and Technical Fellow Andrew Reiter.
Brandon Tseng came to live in San Diego after serving in the Navy as a surface warfare officer and SEAL. Brother Ryan sold his company, WiPower, to Qualcomm and then began working for the San Diego tech giant.
Shield AI now employs 625 people, with a third of them based out of the San Diego headquarters. The company also maintains offices in Dallas, Washington D.C. and Abu Dhabi.
Shield AI
FOUNDED: 2015
CEO: Ryan Tseng
HEADQUARTERS: San Diego
BUSINESS: Artificial Intelligence
VALUATION: $2.7 billion
EMPLOYEES: 625 with 170 locally
WEBSITE: shield.ai
CONTACT: info@shield.ai
NOTABLE: Shield AI’s Hivemind is an AI-powered pilot that has flown a variety of aircraft and can enable swarms of drones and aircraft to operate autonomously without GPS, communications or a human pilot in the cockpit.
