Drone maker UFORCE from Ukraine gets $700 million at $6 billion value

UFORCE, a company from Ukraine, got $700 million in a Series A round that values it at $6 billion. It makes drones for the air, the sea and the ground, and AI software that controls them together. Valor Equity Partners and the National Wealth Fund of the UK led the round, the company told on Thursday. It uses the $700 million to make more drones in Ukraine and in partner countries.

What it buys

UFORCE tells that large numbers of drones with a lower cost can defend for less than weapons that are in use at this time. It tells that its NEMESIS drones made more than 300,000 combat flights.

The proof

CEO Oleg Rogynskyy tells that bookings more than doubled in a year, from some hundred million dollars. The CEO gave no figure. The CEO also tells that UFORCE made 10 times as many unmanned surface vessels as its usual rivals. No external party checked this statement. Companies in NATO and partner countries got $27.1 billion through September, tells a report.

What is not known

Rogynskyy did not name customers. The CEO did not tell how much output goes to Ukraine and how much goes to other countries. The CEO tells that Ukraine comes first.

Insight: Investors pay for feedback from the battlefield

The CEO of UFORCE tells that firms from Ukraine move fast because their engineers get constant feedback from soldiers. The CEO tells that Ukraine comes first, but gave no share of output. The $6 billion value reads as a price for a feedback loop from use in the field, and that loop can break as production moves to other countries. For builders: the CEO names fast feedback as the edge.