Overland AI Raises $100M to Scale Autonomous Ground Vehicles for US Military Operations

Overland AI Raises $100 Million to Speed Up Use of Military Land Robots

The Seattle-based defense firm Overland AI Inc. has raised $100 million in new funding to help accelerate the use of robots and other autonomous systems across the US military's ground forces. The biggest funding round to date will help the company double manufacturing capacity for its autonomous off-road ground vehicle as well as a kit that can give that functionality to other vehicles. The round was led by 8VC, whose founder Joe Lonsdale is a co-founder of Palantir Technologies Inc. 8VC also was an early investor in fast-growing defense tech firm Anduril Industries Inc. Overland has previously raised $42 million since its founding in 2022. "We've been working with soldiers and Marines, integrating our tech into their highest missions, and demand is accelerating," Stephanie Bonk, the company's co-founder, said in an interview. The Pentagon has boasted of experimenting with ground robots and has spent years vowing to send autonomous vehicles to do the dangerous battlefield tasks. But finding capable technology hasn't been easy. Overland AI developed its technology through a four-year US government Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency program. The company already is working with units across the Army, Marine Corps and Special Operations Command on missions that include resupply and reconnaissance. The company also recently completed an autonomous breaching experiment with the 36th Engineer Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas, which is typically accomplished using combat engineers -- highlighting the use of autonomous technology to help in risky tasks such as clearing mine fields and navigating anti-tank trenches.

Overland AI raises $100M to meet growing military demand for autonomous ground vehicles

Seattle-based Overland AI raised $100 million in new funding to meet demand for its autonomous ground vehicles for the U.S. military. The investment -- the largest to date for the startup spun out of the University of Washington in 2022 -- was led by 8VC. Other backers include Point72 Ventures, Ascend, Shasta Ventures, and Overmatch Ventures, as well as new supporters Valor Equity Partners, StepStone Group and TriplePoint Capital. "Demand for ground autonomy has moved decisively from experimentation to operational integration," said Stephanie Bonk, co-founder and president of Overland AI, in a news release Tuesday. "This funding allows us to scale alongside the units adopting our technology." Overland completed the DARPA RACER program (Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency) last November after three years testing and iterating its platform autonomy. The company said the funding will enable it to meet rapidly growing demand for ULTRA, its autonomous ground vehicle. Overland AI is working closely with the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and SOCOM, including the 82nd Airborne Division, 1st Cavalry Division, 173rd Airborne Brigade, 36th Engineer Brigade, and 2nd Marine Logistics Group. The goal is to deliver autonomous maneuverability across complex off-road, GPS-denied environments at tactically relevant speeds, especially for dangerous "breaching missions" in ground combat operations. Autonomy can remove combat engineers from locations such as a minefield, wire, or barrier where a force is attempting to create a lane for passage. Last month Overland announced a partnership with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), which is testing the use of Overland's technology for wildfire response. CAL FIRE used two of Overland's self-driving 4-wheelers for resupply (food, water, battery delivery) and wildfire logistics missions at Camp Pendleton in Southern California. Last year the startup announced a $32 million funding round and opened a 22,000 square-foot production facility in Seattle. The company is led by Bonk and CEO Byron Boots, a robotics researcher who leads the UW's Robot Learning Laboratory and is the Amazon Professor of Machine Learning at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering. Overland is ranked No. 14 on the GeekWire 200, our list of top privately held startups across the Pacific Northwest. The company has 101 employees, up from 58 people a year ago, according to LinkedIn data.

Overland AI Gets $100 Million Funding Round to Scale Defense Tech

Overland AI raised $100 million in funding to scale its operations for the Defense Department. The autonomous defense and national security systems company said Tuesday that the new funding round was led by Joe Lonsdale's venture capital firm, 8VC, with participants including Point72 Ventures, Ascend Venture Capital, Shasta Ventures and Overmatch Ventures. TriplePoint Capital also gave the company a $20 million venture debt facility, Overland said. It added that the funding would allow it to meet growing demand for its autonomous ground vehicle, known as ULTRA, which is being used by the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and the Special Operations Command. "Demand for ground autonomy has moved decisively from experimentation to operational integration," co-founder and President Stephanie Bonk said. "This funding allows us to scale alongside the units adopting our technology." Write to Elias Schisgall at [email protected]