Darkhive, a San Antonio, Texas, maker of small military drones and tactical edge software, announced on 7 May 2026 that it had closed a $30m Series B round led by RTX Ventures, the venture capital arm of defence group RTX.
Draper Associates and Bison Capital are new investors. 1011 Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Alamo Angels and Stellar Ventures continued their backing. Tectonic Defense reported that RTX Ventures first invested in Darkhive in its Series A. No valuation was disclosed.
Tectonic Defense said total funding across the 2023 seed, the 2024 Series A and the Series B is $55m. The company did not give the amounts of the earlier rounds in the sources reviewed.
“This latest round of investment, led by our partners at RTX Ventures, affirms our values-driven approach to innovation”John Goodson, CEO, Darkhive
A Pentagon contract first
The round follows a $49.7m award under the Pentagon's APFIT initiative, short for Accelerate the Procurement and Fielding of Innovative Technologies. Darkhive's release said the Pentagon selected the company in March 2026 to lead the programme and called it the largest award in APFIT history. Tectonic Defense said the contract was won in December and announced in March.
According to Tectonic Defense, the award falls under the heading Real-Time Command and Control at the Tactical Edge and covers FLEETFORGE and Darkhive's software-defined hardware compute and communication products. The same report put the company's total contracts at nearly $64m. The release also listed programmes with the US Air Force, the Defense Innovation Unit and the Air Force Research Laboratory.
What Darkhive builds
Darkhive was founded in 2021 by US special operations veterans, according to Tectonic Defense, which described it as a tactical autonomy and edge software company focused on small uncrewed aircraft systems. John Goodson is chief executive.
Its products include Yellowjacket, an eight-inch square drone for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance that can be used indoors and outdoors and is operated through Broodbox software. Obelisk is a foldable, four-foot-wide autonomous drone with a 45-minute flight time and electro-optical and infrared payloads that can spot and classify vessels on the water. FLEETFORGE is a software platform meant to speed software integration and continuous delivery for uncrewed aircraft.
The release also mentions software-defined hardware designed for fast adaptation and scalable production.
What the money is for
The company said it chose to raise the round to accelerate delivery on current commitments and forecast demand for large-volume orders, according to Tectonic Defense. The release said the funds would speed production and delivery to customers and widen resources for innovation work with the Pentagon.
Goodson said the round, led by partners at RTX Ventures, "affirms our values-driven approach to innovation." Dan Ateya, managing director of RTX Ventures, said Darkhive's progression is a testament to the strength of its technology and the discipline of its team.
Dealroom described the company's aim as giving warfighters affordable, expendable drone capabilities that can operate in contested environments. Darkhive did not disclose its headcount.
Company website: darkhive.com