North Vector Dynamics (NVD) has raised a $20-million USD ($29-million CAD) Series A round that it says will help the defence tech company scale its reach and build out its manufacturing.
Announced on Monday, the fundraise brings the counter-drone company’s valuation to $90 million USD ($126 million CAD). Officially closing this past summer, NVD told BetaKit the round was among the largest defence tech financings in Canada and was led by Tech Horizons, a European outfit with a focus on investment in defence and security technology. Additional participation included firms like ONE9, Garage Capital, CSG, Ripple Ventures, Feld Ventures, and Conconi Growth Partners.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail, NVD CEO Paul Ziadé said domestic contributors were a “sizable minority” in the round, with the rest of the financing coming from US and European investors.
Paul Ziadé,
“The defence landscape in Canada has evolved.”
North Vector Dynamics
The new round brings NVD’s total funding to nearly $28 million USD in equity funding. Last July, NordSpace’s venture arm also invested in NVD, and in August, the company was awarded a four-year, $4.2-million CAD contract from Canada’s Department of National Defence. NVD previously received $2.5 million CAD in grant funding from DND’s Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security program.
In a statement, Ziadé said the size of the raise was evidence of the changing Canadian defence sector.
“The defence landscape in Canada has evolved, driven in part by signals from the Defence Industrial Strategy and increased mobilization among NATO allies,” Ziadé said. “Now is the time to execute and leverage these investments to deliver sovereign capability.”
Deploying capital
Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Calgary, NVD builds air and missile defence technology to counter autonomous or unmanned vehicles, also known as drones. The company’s flagship product, CM-70, is a precision-guided, counter-drone missile interceptor designed to integrate with a military’s existing air defence systems.
NVD, which was recently featured in BetaKit Most Ambitious, said its new funding will be deployed across several initiatives, including opening new offices, “attracting new talent,” securing supply chains, and building out its manufacturing capabilities.
In an email to BetaKit, an NVD spokesperson noted the company plans to open an office in Ottawa this year, with US and European offices to come in 2027, though specific locations have not yet been finalized. NVD expects to double its headcount to roughly 50 employees over the next six to eight months.
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In addition to those offices, NVD’s spokesperson said the startup is also planning to open a manufacturing facility, but they did not provide a tentative date for that expansion, saying NVD was evaluating “a variety of options” and that its final decision will depend on the scale and location of initial product demand.
The CM-70 is not currently in use by any military force, but NVD is hoping to change that with tentative plans to start delivering the anti-drone defence system to customers in 2027, with initial manufacturing expected to begin early next year.
“We have significant momentum in multiple markets and specific requests from customers that we anticipate could translate into our first orders in the coming months,” NVD’s spokesperson said.
NVD did not elaborate on where that interest was coming from or who its potential first customers might be.
Allied partners
NVD has positioned itself among the startups looking to meet Canada and NATO’s growing demand for defence equipment amid concerns over sovereignty prompted primarily by increased aggression from Russia in Europe and the consistent threats of annexation from the US.
“We believe it is both responsible, and necessary, to engage with allied partners.”
Given the company’s plans to expand operations into the US, BetaKit asked NVD whether it was responsible for a company looking to shore up Canada’s sovereignty to also work closely with the US defence sector, and whether it was concerned about those relationships.
“Canada and the US share one of the most integrated defence and security relationships in the world, built over decades of cooperation through NORAD, NATO, and a deeply interconnected industrial base,” an NVD spokesperson told BetaKit. “This partnership remains fundamental to the defence of North America and to the security interest of both countries.”
NVD remains Canadian-controlled and its investors are all from NATO countries (which includes the US). NVD’s spokesperson added that it is “making every effort” to build a Canadian supply chain, but that relationships with “allied nations” were key to strengthening Canadian sovereignty.
“This means developing, manufacturing, and retaining critical technologies in Canada while building relationships with trusted partners and allies that can help accelerate growth and capability development,” NVD’s spokesperson said. “Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy recognizes that partnerships with allied nations and access to international capital play an important role in scaling Canadian-controlled companies. We believe it is both responsible, and necessary, to engage with allied partners.”
BetaKit’s Prairies reporting is funded in part by YEGAF, a not-for-profit dedicated to amplifying business stories in Alberta.
Feature image courtesy North Vector Dynamics.