Fortem Technologies on Tuesday said it has closed an $17.8 million funding round with new investors that includes Lockheed Martin
[LMT] and others to allow it to scale to meet the growing demand of the counter-drone and advanced air mobility markets.
Separately, Lux Semiconductors said it has raised $2.3 million in a seed funding round that includes Lockheed Martin to help accelerate a new semiconductor platform aimed at increasing performance and lowering costs.
Lockheed Martin’s venture business unit made the investments.
The investors in Fortem also include South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace and AIM13/Crumpton Venture Partners, a partnership between the investment firms AIM13 and Crumpton Global. Utah-based Fortem’s airspace security and counter-unmanned aircraft system (UAS) products include artificial intelligence-enabled radar, an electro-optical/thermal imaging camera, the DroneHunter quadcopter drone that shoots a net at threat drones to neutralize and safely remove them from an area, a command and control platform to integrate drone defenses, and edge fusion technology to correlate sensors and telecommunications networking.
Fortem said the new investment demonstrates confidence in the growth in the counter-UAS and advanced air mobility market. The company’s technology is in use with Ukrainian forces fighting against Russian invaders
“Not only does this investment help us address our rapidly growing market demand, but the level of support and industry experience these companies bring allows us to tap into unparalleled business, technical and industry knowledge,” Jon Gruen, Fortem’s CEO, said in a statement.
Chris Moran, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures, said in a statement that the “investment in Fortem Technologies signals our commitment to keeping pace with our customer’s requirements, ensuring the U.S. and its allies stay ahead of ready.”
Fortem’s existing investors include Toshiba, Boeing [BA], Mubadala Investment Company, Signia Venture Partners, and DCVC.
Lux Semiconductor is developing advanced computer chip packing called the “System-on-Foil” semiconductor platform that is focused on” partitioning chips into smaller ‘chiplets’” that are reconnected inside the packaging. Lux, which is based in Albany, N.Y., says its design allows for the chiplets to be densely packaged linked via high-speed interconnects for reduced package size, better high frequency performance and superior thermal management. The company also touts that its chip packages are made in the U.S.
The investment round in Lux was led by Ultratech Capital Partners and also includes AIN Ventures and Hemisphere Ventures.
“Maintaining a secure supply of semiconductors is critical to Lockheed Martin’s supply chain that enables our customers’ national security missions,” Lockheed Martin Ventures’ Moran said. “Lockheed Martin has been clear in our support to expand America’s vital semiconductor industry and this investment in Lux Semiconductors demonstrates our commitment to domestic supply capabilities that are in line with our larger 21st Century security vision.”