Air defence company Cambridge Aerospace has closed its Series C round with $300m of investment at a $3.4bn valuation.
The round was led by DFJ Growth and supported by Lux, Accel, Lakestar, Never Lift, Ora Global and Elad Gil & Co.
The addition of DFJ Growth and its expertise in rapidly scaling technology, combined with the continued support of early investors, shows the confidence in Cambridge Aerospace as it continues to deliver on contracts and invest in new technology.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting MP said: “This valuation is a great vote of confidence in Britain. Cambridge Aerospace’s Skyhammer is an example of the low-cost interceptor missiles our Armed Forces need to deter adversaries and keep our country safe.
“It is exactly what our unicorn scheme is designed to create – British startups scaling into billion-pound companies, creating skilled jobs, cementing the UK’s position at the forefront of defence innovation.”
Since the company’s $200m Series B raise at a $1.3bn valuation, co-led by Elad Gil & Co and Spark Capital in April of this year, it has received several contracts from the UK Ministry of Defence, including to provide low-cost interceptors for the UK Armed Forces.
Cambridge Aerospace’s leadership team includes CEO Professor Steven Barrett, CCO Chris Sylvan and Junaid Hussain, founder of several emerging technology companies.
Two-thirds of the company’s more than 250 employees work in highly skilled technical and engineering roles, while the business also draws on the skills of veterans of allied armed forces.
It is this talent pool that has allowed the company to successfully develop and deliver its first product, Skyhammer, in such a short period.
The company recently hosted a visit from then Secretary of State for Defence Dan Jarvis at its new manufacturing facility in Cambridge.
As well as the UK, the company has a presence in Germany, Poland, Norway, Ukraine and Australia.
Writing on LinkedIn, Cambridge Aerospace CEO Steven Barrett wrote: “Funding is just an input. This capital goes into manufacturing capacity, test campaigns, and hiring so we can scale up production of Skyhammers, and then Starhammers, in large quantities and with high reliability.
“We need to solve the unexpected challenges that come up along the way. And we need to maintain low cost, so that allied countries can afford air defence at the scale needed to defeat the threat of drones and missiles.
“When you look at what’s happening to Ukrainian families, being killed while they sleep, and to our allies in the Middle East – it is not hard to find real purpose in this.
“I’m often asked what it’s like running an aerospace and defence startup. It’s perpetually on a knife edge of what feels like dramatic success and absolute failure. Nothing works on the first attempt, so you go again. Everything is urgent.
£2.94 black T-shirts
“People push themselves to the limit – many have found efficiencies to save minutes in their day. In my case, I wear the same kind of £2.94 Fruit of the Loom black T-shirt most days.
“It’s extremely difficult for the whole team. But it’s a huge privilege to work with such driven and capable people: an electric mix of early-career engineers, experienced technical leaders, and veterans of allied armed forces whose records of service are humbling.
“But the laundry doesn’t go away, it’s still my job to unload the dishwasher in the morning, and my wife still tells me I should upgrade my T-shirts.
“If you’re incredibly driven, interested in a role with huge purpose, can sustain hard work, enjoy deep technical challenges, and (optional) can live with a disgraceful wardrobe – we’re hiring.”
Randy Glein, DFJ Growth founder and managing partner, said: “Cambridge Aerospace is solving one of the most pressing challenges of modern warfare.
“They have developed an affordable and accurate counter UAS system for eliminating the inbound threats and battlefield chaos caused by low-cost aerial attack drones.
“We surveyed the global landscape and identified Cambridge as having the best team and technology to build the most advanced and modern air defence infrastructure for Europe and its allies.”