Terra Industries raises $11.75 million to build autonomous defense systems in Africa

TechCrunch
TechCrunch
55m ago
Terra Industries, founded by Nathan Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka, raised $11.75 million to build autonomous systems and software to help monitor and respond to security threats to critical infrastructure in Africa.
Terra Industries raises $11.75 million to build autonomous defense systems in Africa
A What happened
Nathan Nwachuku, 22, said he saw Africa undergoing rapid industrialization while still struggling with terrorism and insecurity, and he co-founded Terra Industries with Maxwell Maduka, 24. Terra designs infrastructure and autonomous systems, plus proprietary software called ArtemisOS, to collect and synthesize real-time data and alert response forces when threats are detected. The company said it recently won its first federal contract, has generated more than $2.5 million in commercial revenue, and is protecting assets valued at around $11 billion, including at least two hydro power plants and several mines, with most clients in Nigeria. Terra announced a $11.75 million round led by 8VC and said it will expand factories in Africa, grow its AI team, and open software offices in San Francisco and London while keeping manufacturing in Africa.
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Key insights

  • 1

    Terra’s stated focus is sovereign intelligence for infrastructure protection: Nwachuku said the problem is not lack of firepower but lack of sovereign intelligence, and he said the goal is to geofence Africa’s critical infrastructure and resources.

  • 2

    Terra links its business model to recurring software revenue: Terra said customers place orders for its systems and then pay an annual fee for data processing and storage.

  • 3

    Terra plans to keep manufacturing in Africa while expanding software abroad: Terra said it will open software offices in San Francisco and London, and it said manufacturing will remain in Africa with more factories opening across the continent to boost job creation.

Takeaways

Terra Industries has raised $11.75 million and is expanding its autonomous defense systems and ArtemisOS software while reporting commercial revenue and active protection of infrastructure assets in Nigeria.

Topics

Technology & Innovation Artificial Intelligence Business & Markets Startups/VC World & Politics Security & Defense

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