Ukrainian Drone Maker UFORCE Raises $700M at a $6B Valuation

UFORCE, a defence company founded in Ukraine and best known for the MAGURA uncrewed boats, announced on November 12 a $700 million Series A at a valuation of $6 billion. The round was co-led by Valor Equity Partners and the UK's National Wealth Fund, with the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund taking part. The plan is to keep production running for Ukraine's front line and to build the same systems in allied countries.

From Ukrainian Workshops to a London Headquarters

UFORCE was founded in Ukraine and is now headquartered in London, with major hubs in Kyiv and Washington, DC. It builds uncrewed platforms for sea, land and air, and the software that coordinates and commands them. Its product families include the MAGURA uncrewed surface vessels, the NEMESIS aerial strike platforms, the LIUT ground robots and the PREDATOR turrets.

Those systems were developed during the war. Oleksandr Karasevych, Ukraine's State Secretary of Foreign Affairs and a board member of the reconstruction fund, said the technologies were built "in workshops under missile strikes" and that MAGURA has sunk enemy warships.

In March, the company raised $50 million at a valuation of about $1 billion. Eight months later, the new round brings in fourteen times that amount, and the list of investors explains much of the jump.

Two Governments and a Silicon Valley Fund at the Table

Valor Equity Partners co-led the round with the UK National Wealth Fund, whose stake of about £113 million is reported to be its largest defence investment to date. The U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund joined as well, and Conor Coleman, its head of investments, called it the fund's largest investment in emerging technology so far. Menlo Ventures, Xantium and Hiro Capital came in, and existing backers such as Shield Capital, Ballistic Ventures, Lakestar and Squadra raised their stakes.

General Christopher Cavoli, the retired NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe and a partner at Valor, joins UFORCE's board.

“Ukraine has shown the world how quickly battlefield innovation can move when engineers work side by side with the people who rely on their systems.”— Christopher Cavoli

For the British fund, the deal also brings engineering and production of these systems to the UK, which its chief executive, Oliver Holbourn, said will create high-skilled jobs. The harder question is how a company keeps supplying troops when its home production is under attack.

Production Close to Where It Is Needed

UFORCE's answer is to spread its factories. The company plans to expand production across the United States, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, building near the places where its systems are needed and helping allied countries grow their own manufacturing. It has already announced a partnership with ReconCraft to build MAGURA boats in the US, and it is a founding member of the EU-Ukraine Drone Alliance.

Distributed production is meant to keep supplies reaching Ukraine's front line despite continued attacks on the country. The company states its goal as making defence a hundred times cheaper than offensive operations. Chief executive Oleg Rogynskyy put it more directly: "UFORCE and our investors are united in our determination to make aggression unaffordable."

The money will also pay for research and new products, with part of the reconstruction fund's investment going to staff and development inside Ukraine. Engineering learned under fire is now being built into factory lines in allied countries.