A $700 million investment in UFORCE adds to the flow of capital into defense technology companies developing uncrewed systems. Valor Equity Partners and the UK National Wealth Fund co-led the startup’s Series A, which values it at $6 billion.
Who Backed the Round
The round, announced Thursday, was co-led by Valor alongside the UK National Wealth Fund, a UK-backed public finance institution, with additional participation from the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, according to a UFORCE press release distributed via PR Newswire. Crain's Chicago Business also covered the financing. The UK National Wealth Fund alone put in $150 million, making it the fund's single largest defense investment to date, according to Bloomberg.
UFORCE says it began in Ukraine and is now headquartered in London, with operational hubs in Kyiv and Washington, DC, according to the press release. The company says it develops uncrewed systems for sea, land and air, along with software for coordinating and commanding them. It plans to expand and distribute production capacity across the United States, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, the release states.
A Retired NATO Commander Joins the Board
Retired General Christopher G. Cavoli, described in the company's announcement as the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe and a partner at Valor Equity Partners, is joining UFORCE's board. UFORCE's NEMESIS drone systems have completed more than 300,000 combat flights, a figure that is company-reported and not independently verified in available reporting, as reported by IBTimes MX. UFORCE chief executive Oleg Rogynskyy told CNBC that bookings have more than doubled over the past year, climbing from a base of several hundred million dollars, as noted by CNBC.
Part of a Broader Defense-Tech Surge
The UFORCE deal lands amid a dramatic run-up in defense-tech dealmaking. Private equity growth investments in defense hit $4 billion in the first nine months of 2026, up from just $500 million in all of 2024, according to PitchBook data cited by CNBC. The number of defense private-equity growth deals climbed too, rising from 15 in 2024 to 31 in 2025 and 48 through September of this year, per the same CNBC report. Startups across NATO and allied countries raised $27.1 billion through September 2026, nearly double the total raised for all of 2025, based on Dealroom and Resilience Media figures cited by CNBC.
The Pentagon’s Push for Faster Procurement
The U.S. Defense Department is also pursuing faster delivery of new capabilities. According to the Government Accountability Office, the Pentagon launched its Replicator Initiative in August 2023 to deliver innovative capabilities to warfighters at speed and scale to address an operational challenge within 24 months. The GAO also reports that the Defense Innovation Unit made 450 awards to companies to develop prototypes from fiscal years 2016 through 2023. DIU said 51 percent of completed prototypes transitioned to production.
CNBC frames the surge as tied to lessons militaries are drawing from the war in Ukraine, where relatively inexpensive drones have challenged the role of traditional military hardware. UFORCE is far from alone in cashing in on that shift. Shield AI raised $1 billion in a Series H round that valued it at $28.8 billion, more than doubling its valuation from $12.7 billion in March 2026, according to Yahoo Finance.
How UFORCE Stacks Up Against Rivals
Other competitors include Munich-based Helsing and Quantum Systems. Advent International, meanwhile, committed up to $1 billion to next-generation defense technology back in March, including stakes in Shield AI and Saronic.
Against that backdrop, UFORCE's $6 billion valuation places it in the middle of a fast-growing pack of drone and autonomy startups drawing sovereign wealth and private equity money at once. With Christopher G. Cavoli, a Valor Equity Partners partner and retired NATO commander, joining UFORCE's board, Valor Equity Partners has staked a visible claim in a sector that investors increasingly see reshaping how wars are fought.
