Melbourne defence tech startup Arkeus has raised $25 million at a $100 million valuation in a in Collection A spherical led by QIC Ventures.
The spherical drew new traders R+VC, Folklore Ventures and Dyne Ventures alongside current backers Major Sequence Ventures, Salus Ventures and Steve Baxter’s Crushed Zone Enterprise Companions.
In line with Dealroom, the post-money valuation lands at round A$100 million — roughly seven occasions what the corporate was price at seed two years in the past.
Arkeus was based in a Melbourne one-car storage in 2020 by CEO Simon Olsen and aerospace engineer Dr Jonathan Nebauer, after they watched drone operators battle with false positives whereas searching drug operations in Colombia.
The corporate builds hyperspectral imaging sensors paired with onboard AI, in order that drones and different autonomous platforms can detect and observe objects in actual time.
“Trendy defence is shifting towards methods that may function and make selections in actual time, with out counting on fixed human enter or susceptible knowledge hyperlinks,” Olsen stated.
Arkeus’ methods are already built-in with drones from AeroVironment, Textron, Tekever and Boeing subsidiary Insitu. It’s even profitable US Division of Conflict contracts, beating US-based incumbents on dwelling soil.
The Collection A cash goes right into a Queensland-based manufacturing and sustainment facility, plus a neighborhood group to service Australian Defence clients within the area.
“This capital permits us to scale manufacturing and get functionality into the sector sooner, whereas increasing throughout a broader set of platforms and clients,” Olsen stated.
QIC Ventures Funding Director Nick Capell framed the wager across the structural shift from human-piloted to software-defined drones.
“We’re seeing defence transfer towards software-defined, autonomous methods the place sensing and decision-making on the edge are important,” Capell stated.
Defence tech is having a second regionally given, , absolutely the state of the world.
Baxter’s Crushed Zone Enterprise Companions — a backer of Arkeus from its $4.45 million seed round in late 2023 — is now constructing a $60 million sector-focused fund.
The federal authorities can also be organising a $1 billion Advanced Capabilities Investment Fund co-funded by personal VCs.
And the Navy simply spent $176 million on 40 maritime drones from Sydney’s Ocius — a fleet Arkeus’ sensors may plausibly find yourself sitting on high of.
Arkeus secured the Australian Military Extensive Space Airborne Surveillance Program in November 2025 to suit out its Tactical UAS fleet, and the Collection A follows a $5 million follow-on from existing investors in March 2025.
