Q1 2025 Hard Tech Recap - Robotics, Aerospace & Defense

Today's Mission Brief 🚀

• 🤖 Robotics: From Warehouse Bots to Humanoids

• 🚀 Aerospace: Rockets, Satellites & Urban Air Mobility

• 🛡️ Defense: The U.S. Is Doubling Down

• 🌌 Cross-Sector Themes to Watch

• 👀 Looking Ahead

🤖 Robotics: From Warehouse Bots to Humanoids

• Hard numbers:

  • ↑183% YoY deal count jump

  • 34 disclosed robotics deals globally

  • Several mega-rounds in humanoids, warehouse, and autonomous robots

  Big wins:

  • Apptronik (US) – $350M Series A to mass produce humanoids

  • NEURA Robotics (Germany) – €120M Series B for cognitive robots

  • Fourier Intelligence (China) – $109M for general-purpose humanoids

  Investors in the mix: B Capital, Alphabet, Earlybird VC, corporate arms like Bosch and more. The common pitch? AI + robotics = next-gen automation. The investor mood? "We want in."

🚀 Aerospace: Rockets, Satellites & Urban Air Mobility

Big launches (pun intended):

• Stoke Space – $260M Series C for reusable launch systems

• Loft Orbital – $170M to grow its satellite-as-a-service model

• Archer Aviation – $300M for eVTOLs, led by BlackRock

Meanwhile, Europe and Asia saw activity through government co-investments:

• Orbex (UK) got $25M from UK Space Agency

• Sateliot (Spain) received €13.8M for IoT nanosats

• Deep Blue Aerospace (China) raised $69M for small launch

Public + private money is lifting this sector—even if the road to orbit is still pricey.

🛡️ Defense: The U.S. Is Doubling Down

U.S. defense startups raised ~$1.5B this quarter. Europe? Barely cracked $1M. America is on a defense tech tear, and it shows:

Top rounds:

• Shield AI – $240M led by L3Harris for autonomous fighter systems

• Tranch, Castelion, and Parry Labs each raised $80M-$100M+ for battlefield AI, munitions, and comms

VCs like Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, and Lux Capital are full-on believers now. The Pentagon is paying attention too.

Big trend: dual-use tech. If it works for warfighters and warehouses, it’s a win.

🌌 Cross-Sector Themes to Watch

• Autonomy Everywhere: Ground, air, space—autonomous systems led most of the top deals

• Dual-use > defense-only: Investors want commercial upside with DoD contracts

• Gov + Private = Power Play: U.S. and EU governments are writing checks alongside Sand Hill

• AI as a driver: Many rounds were "AI-enabled everything," from drones to propulsion

👀 Looking Ahead: Dry powder is sitting. Founders building robots, rockets, and radars? Investors are ready to deploy.

So if you're solving real problems with real tech, the funding window is open—just make sure you're packing deep IP, a government angle, and a dual-use edge.

Stay RAD, Team RAD Tech