British technology company Valarian has secured a £37 million Series A investment, led by US venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates (NEA).
This new funding takes Valarian’s total investment to $70m (£52m) and will accelerate the rollout of the company’s UK-sovereign digital architecture across government, defence and enterprise.
It also marks NEA’s first defence and dual-use investment in Europe, reflecting growing international confidence in Britain’s sovereign technology sector.
NEA, Lightbank, XTX Ventures, Sequel and Litquidity VC, together with angel investors Gokul Rajaram and Nikesh Arora, also participated in the round.
Welcoming the investment, UK AI Minister Kanishka Narayan praised Valarian’s leading role in helping to build “Britain’s sovereign AI capabilities” while keeping “the UK at the frontier of AI development”.
Narayan said: “Today, AI is the defining currency of both hard and soft power. To shape our own destiny, in accordance with our values, it is imperative that we build Britain’s sovereign AI capabilities.
“Pioneering British firms like Valarian understand the challenge that’s in front of us and are building the solutions that will help us deliver a safer and stronger Britain.
“Investments like these are helping to keep the UK at the frontier of AI development, and complement the work we’re doing through our Sovereign AI Fund, AI Hardware Plan and more to build Britain’s AI strengths.”
For years, the ability to retain complete control over critical data, systems and technology was largely limited to defence organisations and a small number of highly regulated institutions. As AI becomes increasingly embedded across government, defence and enterprise, that level of control is becoming essential for a much wider range of organisations.
Valarian delivers sovereign digital infrastructure that enables organisations to retain control over their data and AI. Its core platform, ACRA, allows organisations to deploy AI securely while keeping sensitive data within their own environment. Alongside ACRA, Valarian’s wider portfolio of technologies helps organisations govern, secure and scale AI across government, defence and enterprise.
Max Buchan, CEO and co-founder of Valarian, said: “We’ve always believed Britain has the talent and ambition to be a global leader in AI. To do that, we need to build the sovereign digital infrastructure that allows government, defence and enterprise to adopt AI securely while remaining in control of their own data.
“This investment allows us to accelerate that work, strengthen sovereign AI capabilities and ensure more of the technology underpinning our future is built here in Britain.”
Mustafa Neemuchwala, partner at NEA, commented: “The critical question of the AI era isn’t which model wins — it’s who controls the environment intelligence operates inside. Valarian answers that question with genuine defence-grade architecture.
“This is NEA’s first defence and dual-use investment in Europe, and we made it because Valarian is building the control infrastructure layer the sovereign AI era requires.”