Top 45 AI Military Tech startups

Updated: Feb 22, 2026
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These startups develop autonomous AI systems to enhance military capabilities in areas such as surveillance, reconnaissance, target identification, threat detection, and decision-making, improving situational awareness, response time, and operational efficiency while minimizing human risk in defense and security applications.
1
Apeiron Labs
Country: USA | Funding: $9.5M
Apeiron Labs creates autonomous underwater robots for ocean exploration. These are inexpensive vehicles, three feet long, five inches in diameter and weighing just over 20 pounds, travel 400 meters up and down the water column, collecting water samples to measure temperature, salinity and acoustics once or twice a day. They can be launched from boats or aircraft. After diving, the AUV navigates its terrain autonomously - the operating system uses models of the ocean to predict where it will surface. When it finally breaches and reconnects with the operating system - it incorporates the new data to refine its models. Apeiron sells its products to both civilian and defense customers. The Pentagon can use them to eavesdrop on submarines off the US coast, while fisheries may require more detailed temperature and salinity data in key fishing areas.
2
Apptronik
Country: USA | Funding: $1.3B
Apptronik produces Apollo, a general-purpose humanoid robot suitable for use in warehouses, manufacturing facilities, in construction, oil and gas, electronics manufacturing, retail, home delivery, elderly care and many other fields. Apollo has a body shape and size similar to a human's, allowing it to navigate spatially and use our tools and equipment. This makes interaction with humans natural and enables it to perform tasks that would be difficult or impossible for other types of robots. Apollo has a modular design and can be mounted on any mobile platform, whether stationary or fully mobile with legs. Thanks to hot-swappable batteries, each rated for four hours of operation, Apollo can continue working simply by replacing the battery rather than charging it from the mains while not in use. When needed, Apollo can be connected to a charger or tethered to the mains for continuous operation.
3
Breaker
Country: Australia | Funding: A$11.2M
Breaker is developing Avalon - software platform for creating and orchestrating military AI agents that understand natural language commands from operators and control one or more autonomous drones. Avalon can be deployed on existing robotic platforms, processes mission context, autonomously coordinates drones and provides mission-specific responses. It's running 100% onboard, with no cloud dependency. Operators can issue instructions via voice, text or graphical interface, and agents self-organize to complete the task. Each action is algorithmically verified against mission constraints before execution. The system transforms unstructured commands into coordinated swarm actions.
4
Anduril
Country: USA | Funding: $6.2B
Anduril Industries is a defense product company that builds technology for military agencies and border surveillance. Provider of AI-based surveillance and reconnaissance solutions for the defense sector. It offers an autonomous operational platform based on sensor fusion, machine learning, and mesh networking to monitor and control warfare assets.
5
Palantir Technologies
Country: USA | Funding: $3B
Palantir offers software applications designed for integrating, visualizing, analyzing data, and fighting fraud. Palantir revolutionizes how organizations build and deploy AI/ML by combining the enterprise data foundation with end-to-end AI/ML deployment infrastructure.
6
Helsing
Country: Germany | Funding: €1.4B
Helsing is a new type of defence AI company. We believe that software, in particular artificial intelligence, will be the key to protecting our democracies. It employs AI and software to enable faster and more accurate decision-making, and the utilisation of data at the tactical, operational, and strategic level.
7
Shield AI
Country: USA | Funding: $1.3B
Shield AI is developing X-BAT - large, AI-controlled vertical takeoff and landing fighter jet, as well as the Hivemind - intelligent platform for military applications. X-BAT has a 12-meter wingspan, a maximum range of 2,000 nautical miles, and a 4G maneuvering load factor. It can carry combat missiles and take off and land from ships, remote islands or rugged forward bases, eliminating dependence on traditional infrastructure. Its AI autopilot can operate in conditions of GPS and communications interference. The company is collaborating with the US Department of Defense to develop next-generation intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems. Its Vidar multi-camera system, with day and night vision cameras and sensors, is installed on reconnaissance drones for edge video analytics and mapping. The company is also developing Tracker C-UAS, an intelligent software solution for the early detection of drones in air defense systems using video from electro-optical and infrared sensors.
8
Skydio
Country: USA | Funding: $740M
Skydio produces smart drones for security, facility maintenance and defense. Skydio drones help complete even the most dangerous jobs safer, more efficiently and faster thanks to remote half-autonomous control. The Skydio Autonomy operating system sees and solves complex navigation problems in real time. It controls the drone in the most challenging conditions, automatically avoiding obstacles as small as a 1.2-centimeter wire, autonomously plans and executes optimal flight route, taking into account terrain, buildings, geofences, flight rules and airspace regulations. The operator can simply specify the destination. Skydio's main project is "Drone as a Rapid Response" (DFR) for police. When emergency call is received, Skydio X10 drones launch from their docking stations in seconds to respond, track objects, broadcast live streams and provide real-time situational awareness both indoors and outdoors, ensuring the safety of police officers and people nearby.
9
Epirus
Country: USA | Funding: $537.6M
Provider of AI-powered counter UAV systems. It offers a software-defined electromagnetic pulse system for defence and public safety applications. It has an in-built high-power microwave beam emitter to detect and disable neutralize single drones or entire swarms even in crowded spaces. It also offers precision detection systems to detect unauthorized vessels in waterways.
10
Kodiak Robotics
Country: USA | Funding: $464.9M
We are developing autonomous technology for long-haul trucking and helps US Army automate future ground vehicles to conduct high-risk missions like reconnaissance and surveillance.
11
C3.ai
Country: USA | Funding: $399.3M
C3 AI is a provider of Enterprise AI software for accelerating digital transformation.
12
AEYE
Country: USA | Funding: $364.1M
AEye develops adaptive, high performance lidar systems for automotive, trucking, smart infrastructure and logistics applications.
13
Primer
Country: USA | Funding: $237M
Primer builds machines that can read and write, automating the analysis of very large datasets. It trawls thousands of sources online, using natural language processing to read and try to make sense of the vast amount of “open source intelligence”.
14
Slingshot Aerospace
Country: USA | Funding: $148.9M
Slingshot Aerospace develops an integrated AI platform for processing real-time and historical satellite data and delivers it to customers via modular APIs, MCP servers or SaaS interfaces. The platform's customers include both space companies requiring data for orbital risk and maneuver planning and ground-based companies for monitoring and planning ground operations (particularly military ops). Slingshot's proprietary sensor network is the world's only day/night optical observation network from low-Earth orbit to geostationary orbit, providing high-frequency observations and tracking in near-real time. The AI ​​model combines historical trends with real-time data to highlight anomalies, detect unexpected events, and identify emerging operational risks early to ensure rapid response and coordination.
15
Merlin Labs
Country: USA | Funding: $133.5M
Merlin Labs develops autonomous flight system designed to be installed in existing aircraft.
16
Dedrone
Country: USA | Funding: $127.9M
Provider of AI-based smart airspace security solutions. It comprises an array of RF sensors to detect, identify, and locate various drones in real-time, based on parameters, such as noise, shape, & movement patterns. It has a machine learning-based drone library to automate the protection of airspaces against unauthorized drones.
17
NestAI
Country: Finland | Funding: €100M
NestAI is a physical AI lab that supports Finnish Defence Forces in adopting AI. It also has a partnership with hardware giant Nokia to build AI products for defense applications using large language models and related technology for robotics and other real-world applications. NestAI's systems perceive environment with sensors and cameras, think or make decisions (via LLM models), act in physical space via robots, manipulators, drones.
18
Vannevar Labs
Country: USA | Funding: $87M
Developer of products for the security industry. It develops AI-based solutions for counter-terrorism missions tackling national security problems. It also uses natural language processing and caters mainly to the defense and intelligence industries.
19
Roboteam
Country: USA | Funding: $62M
Roboteam is a provider of designs, develops, and manufactures unmanned platforms. It is a throwable robotic platform with detection and tactical surveillance capabilities.
20
TurbineOne
Country: USA | Funding: $54M
TurbineOne designs a frontline perceptions system for warfighters. It utilizes machine learning (ML) to offer data-driven insights on battlefields. This includes threat detection, target identification, AI-based video analysis, and classification of killer robots.
21
Fortem Technologies
Country: USA | Funding: $49.7M
Fortem Technologies develops radar systems for detecting airborne objects and counter UAV systems for commercial and military applications. Its DroneHunter is an autonomous perimeter detection (and protection) solution, designed to detect, classify, and secure against rogue drones. On detecting an intruder drone, it uses its AI-directed detection, tracking, and guidance for remediating the air threat at a standoff distance, with no collateral damage.
22
CalypsoAI
Country: USA | Funding: $43.2M
Calypso AI provides a platform that allows organizations to accelerate their use of language models. Its solution protects sensitive information from unauthorized access via public large language models, detects and prevents malicious attacks deployed through generative AI tools and verifies LLM output to enhance decision-making.
23
Reveal Technology
Country: USA | Funding: $41.9M
Provider of intelligent systems for the military. It offers intelligent systems for getting real-time updates in isolated areas with no updates from the headquarters.
24
Actuate
Country: USA | Funding: $25M
Actuate builds software that employs computer vision to automatically detect gun threats and intruders in security camera feeds.
25
Airspace Systems
Country: USA | Funding: $25M
Airspace provides a drone detection and disabling system. It performs multi-dimensional risk analysis by leveraging Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and advanced robotics with situational and historic data.
26
EdgeRunner AI
Country: USA | Funding: $17.5M
is building AI Chatbot for military applications and has agreement with US Air Force
27
Jericho Security
Country: USA | Funding: $18.1M
Jericho Security is protect the world from the emerging dangers of generative AI cyberattacks.
28
Ask Sage
Country: USA | Funding: $17M
Ask Sage is a GPT-driven platform that provides a cutting-edge AI assistant designed specifically for government teams and corporations. Ask Sage is used by the Department of Defense teams to accelerate workflows across acquisition, cybersecurity, logistics, and more
29
Bone AI
Country: South Korea | Funding: $12M
Bone AI specializes in creating autonomous military robotics based on proprietary AI systems. It is developing a unified platform that integrates software, hardware, manufacturing (in Korea) and a supply chain in the US, Europe and other allied countries. The company develops next-generation autonomous aerial (UAV), ground (UGV) and maritime (USV) vehicles for defense and government customers. Its initial focus is on aerial drones for logistics and counter-drone defense. The company is engaged in research of advanced AI simulations, autonomy algorithms, embedded engineering, hardware design and physical AI.
30
Danti
Country: USA | Funding: $7.8M
Search engine for all of Earth's data for Defense, Property & Insurtech, Infrastructure organizations
31
Skylark Labs
Country: USA | Funding: $7.5M
Skylark creates AI for physical applications, aiming to create a superintelligence that can learn and act in the real world. Its AI (similar to the human brain) features internal confidence indicator, novelty mode, short-term and long-term memory. It also enables creating a data-sharing network between physical agents to accelerate shared learning. The company is developing the KEPLER edge platform for collecting data from optical, thermal, radar and unmanned sensors and rapidly recognizing threats, providing improved situational awareness for military operations. Its second platform, TURING, is designed for intelligence agencies. It can analyze data from linguistic and visual sources to recognize information threats. Skylark also produces compact industrial computing units for edge computing, which process data flows from sensors without using cloud computing.
32
Modern Intelligence
Country: USA | Funding: $5M
Modern Intelligence is a technology company using proprietary advances in information and complexity theory to build one AI for defense.
33
Wonder Robotics
Country: USA | Funding: $4.5M
Wonder Robotics provides robust AI layers for autonomous and safe flights for both commercial and military delivery drones.
34
AI Verse
Country: France | Funding: €2.5M
AI Verse offers a self-service image generator that produces high-quality labeled synthetic datasets for training AI applications
35
Vizgard
Country: UK | Funding: £1.5M
Vizgard provides AI-based object tracking for unmanned and counter-unmanned systems. This enables automatic visual confirmation and tracking threats such as unauthorized drones.
36
WARGdrones
Country: Germany | Funding: €1.5M
WARdrones enables soldiers to protect their perimeter against unwanted intruders through AI-led drone perimeter defense.
37
Enabled Intelligence
Country: USA | Funding: $1M
Enabled Intelligence specializes in AI-powered data labeling for classified systems. The company collaborates with the Department of Defense, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, CSHA, BAE Systems, Vantor and others. In particular, the company provides data labeling services, enabling AI and machine learning systems to separate objects in satellite imagery to identify targets of interest. Enabled Intelligence also develops own AI models for high-stakes applications, creates pre-labled libraries and datasets, provides LLM fine-tuning and testing services and annotates audio recordings in various languages.
38
Paladin AI
Country: Canada | Funding: $800K
Paladin AI builds adaptive training technology for the aerospace industry. Human expertise, trained by machine intelligence.
39
Endox
Country: USA | Funding: $300K
Endox develops physical-based articifial intelligence designed to perceive, adapt, and act in real time. Combining proprietary data acquisition technologies, next-generation robotics integration and edge-focused architectures, Endox creates systems scalable across various industries, including the US military.
40
Cleo Robotics
Country: USA | Funding: $120K
Cleo Robotics is developing a revolutionary new drone technology designed specifically for indoor applications. The company claims to incorporate a combination of stereo vision-based SLAM and neural networks for indoor navigation and obstacle avoidance.
41
Kraus Hamdani Aerospace
Country: USA | Funding: $1K
Developer of AI-enabled and electric unmanned aerial systems. The company offers stealth to radar, autonomous operations, encrypted communications, multi-constellation navigation, anti-jamming and anti-spoofing systems, and endurance systems. It also provides smart Persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (SP-ISR) as a service. It can be used in the defense, security, and aerospace sectors.
42
New Type Industries
Country: South Korea
Newtype Industries is developing AI warfare systems that are mission-ready
43
Hance
Country: Norway
HANCE delivers real-time audio processing model. Hance’s audio AI is designed to handle the unpredictable nature of live audio with its background noises, room reverb, and uncontrolled environments, such as those encountered by the military.
44
Label Your Data
Country: USA
Label Your Data offers secure, high-quality data annotation services for Computer Vision and NLP. Our expertise spans diverse industries (including military) and data types.
45
Tarsier
Country: USA
Tarsier develops optical-based drone detection and tracking systems for commercial, government, and military users. Manufacturer of AI-based drones for defense purposes. The company claims that its proprietary artificial intelligent algorithms precisely localize and track aerial threats in real-time thereby providing the situational awareness required to defend against aerial threats.
  See also:
Siddhant Patel
Editor: Siddhant Patel
Siddhant Patel is a senior editor for AI-Startups. He is based out of India and has previously worked at publications including Huffington Post and The Next Web. Siddhant has a special interest in artificial intelligence and has spent a decade covering the rapidly-evolving business and technology of the industry. Siddhant graduated from the Indian Institute of Science (Bengaluru). When he’s not writing, Siddhant is also a developer and has a deep historical knowledge of the computer industry for the past 50 years. You can contact Siddhant at sidpatel(at)ai-startups(dot)pro