The Series C was led by DFJ Growth. Skyhammer interceptors are already under contract with the UK MoD. Starhammer, the next product, arrives in 2027. The company operates in six countries including Ukraine.
Credit: Cambridge Aerospace
Cambridge Aerospace raised $300M Series C at $3.4B, led by DFJ Growth. Makes Skyhammer drone interceptors. UK MoD contracts. Founded <2 years ago. 250+ employees. Starhammer coming 2027. Operates in UK, Germany, Poland, Norway, Ukraine, Australia.
Cambridge Aerospace has raised $300 million in a Series C round at a $3.4 billion valuation, led by DFJ Growth with participation from Lux, Accel, Lakestar, Never Lift, Ora Global, and Elad Gil & Co. The company makes low-cost interceptors designed to destroy attack drones, and it was formed less than two years ago. Its first product, Skyhammer, is a radar-guided interceptor with a range over 30 km, developed from first sketch to flight test in six weeks. The UK Defence Secretary called it “exactly what our Armed Forces need.”
The growth since the April Series B is striking. Cambridge Aerospace raised $200 million at a $1.3 billion valuation just four months ago. Since then, it has secured multiple UK Ministry of Defence contracts, including to provide low-cost interceptors for the UK Armed Forces and the Low-Cost Effectors & Autonomous Platforms (LEAP) programme announced in July. The valuation has nearly tripled. Alta Ares raised €50 million for AI interceptors that have already downed Russian Shaheds over Ukraine, and Cambridge Aerospace is operating in the same market but at a significantly larger scale.
Two-thirds of the company’s 250+ employees work in technical and engineering roles, drawing on the skills of Allied armed forces veterans. CEO Steven Barrett is a leading aerospace engineer. CCO Chris Sylvan served more than a decade in the Royal Marines before moving into defence technology. The company operates in the UK, Germany, Poland, Norway, Ukraine, and Australia. The next product, Starhammer, is scheduled for 2027 and represents the company’s move into more advanced capabilities.
DFJ Growth founder Randy Glein said the firm “surveyed the global landscape and identified Cambridge as having the best team and technology to build the most advanced and modern air defence infrastructure for Europe and its allies.” Germany captured 90% of Europe’s record defence tech funding earlier this year, but Cambridge Aerospace is the UK’s answer: a company that went from founding to $3.4 billion in under two years, with live MoD contracts and a product already in the field. The Defence Secretary called it proof of the UK’s “unicorn scheme” working as intended.
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