Nigerian defence-tech startup Terra Industries has raised an additional $18 million, closing its seed round at $52 million, the company announced on its website. Terra will use the funding to
Nigerian defence-tech startup Terra Industries has raised an additional $18 million, closing its seed round at $52 million, the company announced on its website.
Terra will use the funding to open its first international office, in London, and to expand manufacturing capacity and engineering, operations and business development teams.
The round drew existing investors 8VC, Silent Ventures, Nova Global, Belief Capital and SV Angel, alongside new investor Norleo Space Investments and angel investor Grant Gordon, Terra said. Chief executive Nathan Nwachuku confirmed the raise on X, saying the London office would house the company’s operations and AI teams while manufacturing remains based in Abuja and Accra.
Founded in 2024 by Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka, Terra designs and manufactures autonomous defence systems, including drones, sentry towers and unmanned ground vehicles, aimed at helping governments and infrastructure operators monitor and secure critical assets across land, air and maritime environments. The company said its technology already protects power plants, mines and other nationally critical assets valued at approximately $11 billion across multiple African countries.
“Critical infrastructure across the Global South is best protected by systems designed for these environments and built in the regions they protect,” Nwachuku said. “This funding lets us scale that work and deepen our manufacturing base. It also puts us in the rooms where global defense decisions are made.”
Terra’s product range includes its Archer VTOL and Iroko UAV drones and Duma unmanned ground vehicle, all run on ArtemisOS, the company’s proprietary software platform for autonomous threat detection and mission coordination.
The London office adds to Terra’s manufacturing base, which includes its 15,000 sq ft Pax-1 facility in Abuja and a second plant, Pax-2, under construction in Ghana. At 34,000 sq ft, Pax-2 is expected to become the continent’s largest drone factory once operational, with capacity to produce 50,000 units annually by 2028.
Also read: African defence startup Terra Industries raises $11.75m to build homegrown security tech
Terra has expanded its funding three times within the past year. The company closed an initial seed round in January led by 8VC, followed by a $22 million extension in February led by Lux Capital that pushed its valuation past $100 million, according to earlier reporting.
Nwachuku said Terra’s ambitions extend beyond Africa, with plans to expand into the Gulf, South America and South Asia as it builds what it describes as sovereign defence infrastructure for the Global South.
