UFORCE, a defencetech company founded in Ukraine and headquartered in London, with major hubs in Kyiv and Washington, DC, today announced a $700 million Series A financing round at a $6 billion valuation.
UFORCE builds autonomous uncrewed platforms across sea, land and air, and the AI software, orchestration, and command-and-control (C2) layer that operates them. Its goal is to make defence a hundred times cheaper than offensive operations.
Its products include the MAGURA family of uncrewed surface vessels, the NEMESIS family of strike platforms, the LIUT family of ground robotic platforms, the PREDATOR turret family counter-UAS systems, and C2, the software that controls them. The MAGURA Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) family has contributed to the destruction of more than a dozen Russian warships in the Black Sea and has shot down multiple helicopters and fighter aircraft in combat. The Ukrainian armed forces have used MAGURAs as a mobile maritime base for multi-domain operations, launching NEMESIS UAVs for long-range strikes against targets like air defence systems.
NEMESIS Class 1 heavy strike UAV platforms, both multi-use and one-way attack, are among the most widely deployed bombers and strike UAVs on the Ukrainian battlefield, with more than 300,000 combat flights and adopted across 100+ units.
Valor Equity Partners and the UK National Wealth Fund (NWF) co-led the funding round, with participation from the US–Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund (URIF). The round also drew leading investors from across Silicon Valley, Europe, and Asia, including Menlo Ventures, Xantium, and Hiro Capital. Existing investors, including Shield Capital, Ballistic Ventures, Lakestar, and Squadra, also increased their stakes in UFORCE.
According to Oleg Rogynskyy, Chief Executive Officer of UFORCE, the war in Ukraine has shown that in an increasingly volatile world, effective defence requires systems that can keep improving as threats change.
“Governments and the technology ecosystem need to come together to develop cost-effective, interoperable, and autonomous platforms that are ready to fight now, and can evolve to meet future needs. They are doing that by investing in UFORCE.
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. UFORCE and our investors are united in our determination to make aggression unaffordable.”
The funding round will empower UFORCE to expand and distribute its production capacity across the US, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, manufacturing its platforms close to the theaters where they are needed while helping allied nations expand their sovereign manufacturing capabilities.
This distributed capacity will enable UFORCE to maintain continuous production and supply front-line troops with uncrewed systems despite continued attacks in Ukraine, while bringing advanced capabilities to the battlefield.
General (Ret.) Christopher G. Cavoli, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Partner at Valor Equity Partners:
“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. UFORCE turns that hard-won frontline experience into both unmanned systems and the operational know-how to use them effectively.
I’m proud to join the board and look forward to supporting the team as it strengthens Ukraine’s defence and that of its allies”.
Oliver Holbourn, Chief Executive Officer of the UK National Wealth Fund, said:
"Today’s investment is a testament to the special relationship that the UK and Ukraine have fostered. With the National Wealth Fund’s support, UFORCE’s expansion is bringing the production, engineering, and application of combat-tested autonomous systems to the UK.
Write CommentIt will help create high-skilled jobs, strengthen domestic supply chains and reinforce the UK’s position as a leading centre for innovation in technologies that are increasingly important to national security and economic resilience.”