Firestorm Labs has secured 47 million USD in Series A funding, with Lockheed Martin Ventures again contributing to the round.
Led by New Enterprise Associates, Decisive Point, Washington Harbour Partners and Booz Allen Ventures were also participants in the fund-raising, while 12 million USD of the total includes venture debt from J.P. Morgan. It follows last year's seed funding round, which saw Lockheed Martin Ventures and other prominent defence investors invest a total of 12.5 million USD.
Harnessing this investment, Firestorm Labs intends to advance its additive manufacturing platform with the addition of more engineers, a larger production facility and an expansion of its partnership program. The company believes this increase in capacity will help to accelerate in-theatre production of versatile, affordable unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for US and allied defence organisations in line with Executive Order 14307, “Unleashing American Drone Dominance”.
Production of Firestorm's xCell expeditionary factory-in-a-box solution is set to be scaled up as a result of the funding, with the company confident it can also produce modular airframes, mission-specific payloads and replacement components at the point of need. The company also aims to enhance its modularity suite by uniting an onboard computer, tactical software, developer tools, and mission planning into a single 'plug-and-play ecosystem.'
“We’re thrilled about this milestone, because it empowers Firestorm to deliver critical, battlefield-ready solutions faster and at scale,” said Dan Magy, CEO of Firestorm. “Our unique ability to 3D print modular airframes on-site dramatically reduces production timelines, costs, and logistical constraints, giving the U.S. and allied forces the adaptive technology they urgently need in complex and contested operational environments.”
Aaron Jacobson, partner at NEA, added: “Firestorm’s pioneering use of distributed, additive manufacturing for low-cost, adaptable, and open-architecture UAS solutions is critical for keeping our troops out of harm's way and establishing the US at the forefront of unmanned systems. Their agility, unique capabilities, and focused approach align with our vision for transformative defense technologies. We are proud to be supporting them in their mission.”
“Our military needs technology it can trust to be ready when the circumstances demand it,” said Chris Moran, Vice President and General Manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures. “Deployable, on-site 3D drone printing is a powerful tool that further extends the warfighter’s ability to secure the battlespace, while advancing U.S. leadership on the frontiers of defence technologies.”
“As a former senior commander focused on supply chains and reducing long logistics tails, I know amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics,” offered U.S. Army Gen. Richard D. Clarke (Ret.), who recently toured Firestorm’s San Diego facilities. “Firestorm’s innovation is really helping that logistics chain to operate more efficiently.”
Earlier this month, Firestorm Labs secured exclusive distribution rights of HP's Multi Jet Fusion technology in mobile and field-deployable environments.
