Welcome back to the twelfth edition of The New Defense Post!
In this edition, we’ll cover:
In the Hot Seat: We sat down with Frederico Baptista, one of the three co-founders of Zero Industries, a venture-backed defense startup building navigation systems for drones operating in GPS-denied environments.
Spotlights: Chaos Industries Has Raised a $510mn Series D at a $4.5bn Valuation; Defense Leaders From Europe’s Five Biggest Spenders Met in Berlin and Agreed to Deploy Counter-Drone Units and Step Up Military Aid to Ukraine; U.S. FPV Drone Maker Neros Has Raised a $75mn Series B Led by Sequoia Capital.
Fundraising News of the Week: Chaos Industries raised $510mn (Series D) for counter-drone radar, Forterra secured $238mn (Series C) for autonomous mission-system interoperability, and Neros added $75mn (Series B) to scale its FPV drone production.
Bonus Section: We sat down with James Thomas, Radical Aero’s founder, who is building ISR drones for satellite-class imaging and communications with higher resolution, lower cost, and real-time flexibility.
In the Hot Seat
Photo Credit: Zero Industries
We sat down with Frederico Baptista, one of the three co-founders of Zero Industries, a venture-backed defense startup building navigation systems for drones operating in GPS-denied environments.
We discussed how their student project turned into a company, working with Project Europe, and the challenges of innovating in European defense.
Spotlights
1. Chaos Industries Has Raised $510mn Series D at a $4.5bn Valuation
Photo Credit: CHAOS
Chaos Industries, a Los Angeles–based counter-drone radar startup founded in 2022, has raised a $510mn Series D funding at a $4.5bn valuation.
The round was led by Valor Equity Partners, which has also backed Anduril, SpaceX, and Defense Unicorns.
Chaos plans to use the capital to scale manufacturing and headcount. Valor CEO Antonio Gracias will join Chaos’ board.
🗣 Chaos CEO, John Tenet: “It’s no secret defense tech has become one of the hottest categories in venture capital” (Reuters)
📰 Our Take: Like much of defense tech, the real test will be contracts and deployment, not valuations. Chaos claims its sensors can detect small drones from far longer ranges than legacy systems and has already landed an initial U.S. Air Force deal, plus a tech acquisition (Ziva Corporation) to improve response times.
This is very promising for identifying small drones, though it is still constrained by the traditional limitations of radar systems. Drones often fly low to evade radar, and Shahed drones are already detectable by conventional radar.
2. Defense Leaders From Europe’s Five Biggest Spenders Met in Berlin and Agreed to Deploy Counter-Drone Units and Step Up Military Aid to Ukraine
Europe’s five biggest military spenders met in Berlin today and doubled down on support for Ukraine and NATO’s eastern flank. They agreed on new counter-drone deployments to Finland and Belgium, plus fresh military and financial aid for Kyiv.
Germany pledged at least €150mn in U.S.-made equipment for Ukraine under a special program, on top of newly approved aid, and plans to spend €11.5B on Ukraine in 2026, €3 billion more than this year.
🗣 Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative: “Ukraine will need funding next year, and using immobilized Russian assets is the most clear-cut way… Russia does not want to negotiate at all.” (Defense News)
📰 Our Take: This is part of Europe’s shift from ad hoc emergency aid to a more structural, long-term defense posture against Russia, with counter-drone capabilities emerging as core infrastructure rather than niche tech.
Multi-year funding (like Germany’s €11.5bn Ukraine budget for 2026 and U.S.-made kit for Kyiv) gives the industry the predictability to scale, and eventually frozen Russian state assets may move from political taboo to a serious funding tool for Ukraine.
We have to remember that there are billions of Russian assets sitting inside CSDs in Brussels and Luxembourg. What we’re waiting for is a green light to use them to help defend Ukraine.
3. U.S. FPV Drone Maker Neros Has Raised a $75mn Series B Led by Sequoia Capital
Photo Credit: Neros
This fundraiser brings total funding to over $120 million as Western militaries race to build a China-free, scalable drone industrial base.
The round follows rapid production scaling, revenue growth, and live deployments, including a major drone purchase by the U.S. Marine Corps and Neros’ selection as one of the primary FPV suppliers to the U.S. Army under the PBAS (Purpose-Built Attritable Systems) program.
Founded in 2023, Neros says it has already shipped thousands of systems to Ukraine and the U.S. Department of War, and is expanding globally with offices in Los Angeles, Kyiv, London, and Washington D.C., plus deliveries to the UK Ministry of Defence.
🗣 Soren Monroe-Anderson, CEO, Neros: “Our Series B fundraise represents the culmination of more than two years of company growth, focused product development, and aggressive iteration based on real battlefield results… We are grateful to our investors who believe in our vision of reshoring an American drone industrial base.” (Business Wire)
📰 Our Take: There is little to say, great traction, battle-tested, and a simple but effective solution. They also integrate advanced antennas for EW-heavy battlefield conditions.
Overall, it’s a strong company with two young founders doing impressive work. But what about investing heavily in young European founders as well? The talent is there, along with the hunger for success and the willingness to take risks.
Other News
Fundraising News
Amount | Name | Round | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
$510mn | Counter-drone and Radar | ||
$238mn | Autonomy and Mission System Interoperability | ||
$75mn | FPV Drones |
Bonus Section — Radical Aero
Photo Credit: Radical Aero
Radical Aero, founded by James Thomas, is building solar-powered “StratoSats” that fly at 65,000 ft delivering satellite-class imaging and communications with higher resolution, lower cost, and real-time flexibility.
In this interview, founder James Thomas explains how Radical Aero is racing to unlock the stratosphere with fast hardware iteration, tight end-user collaboration, and rapid manufacturing scale to win a new aerospace domain.
What does Radical Aero do, and what problem are you solving?
We build StratoSats, high-altitude, solar-powered aircraft operating around 65,000 ft (20 km). They sit above weather and commercial aviation but below LEO satellites, delivering satellite-like capabilities with key advantages:
Higher resolution: Closer to the ground → sharper imaging and sensing
Lower cost: No rocket launches needed
Greater flexibility: Can reposition in real time, land for upgrades, and redeploy
If you could get only three things right while building Radical Aero, what would they be, and why?
Ship hardware fast. Efficiency is part of Radical’s DNA. Building and flying a 36 m StratoSat prototype required rapid execution, and maintaining that pace is essential.
Stay close to end-users. Our payload partners and customers unlock new applications in remote sensing and communications; deep collaboration ensures we deliver real value.
Scale manufacturing quickly. The stratosphere is a vast, underutilized domain; the speed of deployment will determine who wins it.
How do you validate Radical Aero’s products, and what metrics determine success?
We use extensive in-house simulation and modeling tools to prepare for flight tests. Our first Evenstar flight validated:
Airframe design
AI controller
Telemetry
Communication links
Success is measured by agreement between simulations and real-world performance, and by readiness for high-altitude operations.
How do you reconcile startup speed with certification and regulatory timelines?
They’re not always at odds. Regulations often frame the operating environment, such as distinctions between ATC-controlled airspace and higher-altitude operations (HAO). Clear boundaries help accelerate safe deployment.
What near-term risks keep you up at night, and how are you de-risking them?
We’re tackling a classic deep-tech problem: persistent stratospheric flight. Even with mature enabling technologies, turning breakthrough concepts into commercial systems is hard.
Our de-risking strategy is simple: build hardware and fly it. Real-world testing is the only way to prove the solution works.
Are you experiencing sales traction?
Yes. We have an active interest across:
Earth observation
Communications
Remote sensing and monitoring
Defense ISR and C2 applications
Demand for high-quality stratospheric data is growing rapidly across both commercial and defense markets.
How do you recruit and retain top-tier talent against primes and big tech?
Our edge is mission + impact.
People join Radical because they want to:
Solve extremely hard problems.
Build technology that materially improves the world.
We’ve successfully hired from big tech, defense primes, and major research institutions. A strong missions attract strong people.
What does a credible exit look like for Radical Aero?
Right now, we’re focused entirely on delivering for customers across imaging and telecoms.
Given the strategic interest in our platform, several future paths are possible (private growth, M&A, IPO), but today the priority is simple: build and fly as fast as possible.
If you were starting over today, what would you do first, and what mistakes would you avoid?
Y Combinator says it best: Talk to customers. Build the product.
If you focus on those two things, it’s hard to go too far wrong.
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